title: Pre-operative teaching: how does a group of nurses do it?
abstract: Studies have revealed that adequate pre-operative instructions alleviate anxiety, increase patient participation in their care and minimize the development of post-operative complications. However, other researches have found that there are discrepancies between nurses' perceptions of patient's pre-operative needs and patients' actual needs. The aim of this study is to gain insight into how a group of surgical ward nurses organize and implement their pre-operative teaching, and the difficulties they have encountered. It explores how a group of surgical ward nurses conduct pre-operative teaching to their patients. It has found that their training, rote learning, and the timing of patient admissions have all affected how participating nurses organize and implement their pre-operative teaching to their patients. This case study acts as an exemplar to other nurses, to stimulate reflection on their own practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Ballarat, Mt Helen Campus.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000451:nursing; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing*