title: A critical pathway for patients undergoing one-day breast cancer surgery.
abstract: As the trend of surgical procedures shifting from inpatient to outpatient settings continues, outpatient-focused standardized care processes will become more of a necessity. A multidisciplinary critical pathway (CP) for breast cancer surgery can assist care providers in meeting patients' educational and psychosocial needs. The CP document discussed in this article takes into account the expedient nature of outpatient surgery and spans the continuum of care from the surgical clinic to the postoperative homecare visit. Integrating homecare nursing improves the quality and consistency of care.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research and Education, HealthSystem Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sladek
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Swenson
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Schroeder
mesh_terms: D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D015397:Program Evaluation