title: Effect of clinical nursing pathway for endoscopic thyroidectomy in Chinese patients: A meta-analysis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the use of a clinical nursing pathway for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy by conducting a meta-analysis. Electronic databases were searched for relevant controlled trials published prior to August 2013. Only papers that compared the use of a clinical nursing pathway to usual care for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy were selected. The outcome measures were mean difference and 95% confidence interval for length of hospital stay and hospital charges and risk ratio for patient satisfaction. Six controlled trials were identified. The use of a clinical nursing pathway reduced the length of hospital stay and hospital charges. Furthermore, it improved patient satisfaction. This meta-analysis indicates that application of a clinical nursing pathway appears to reduce length of hospital stay and hospital charges and improve patient satisfaction for patients undergoing endoscopic thyroidectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Junpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Thyroid Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Shijie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xin
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods*
keywords: clinical nursing pathway; endoscopy; meta-analysis; thyroidectomy