Nonpharmacologic strategies to help reduce preoperative patient anxiety

The Effect of Listening to Music Presurgery on the Anxiety Level of Individuals who are Planned for Urological Surgery: Randomized Controlled Study

PURPOSE

This study aims to evaluate the effects of listening to music on preoperative anxiety levels in individuals planned for urological surgery.

DESIGN

The study was a pretest-post-test randomized controlled study.

METHODS

This research was conducted with 80 (intervention=40, control=40) individuals who applied to the urology clinic of a university hospital between September 2021 and February 2022 with surgery planned. The data were collected via the information form, state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI= STAI-S: state anxiety, STAI-T: trait anxiety), anxiety specific to surgery questionnaire (ASSQ).

FINDINGS

The mean STAI-S scores for the pretest and post-test intervention group were 37.15 ± 8.04 and 34.67 ± 9.09; while scores for the control group were 36.23 ± 9.44 and 37.23 ± 9.78. While the difference in the intervention group was statistically significant (P = .006), there was no difference observed in the control group (P = .256). The pretest and post-test STAI-T mean scores for the intervention group were 39.73 ± 7.71 and 39.88 ± 8.22; the control group scores were 40.68 ± 4.91 and 41.25 ± 5.87; the difference between the intervention (P = .840) and control (P = .346) groups was not statistically significant. The pretest and post-test surgery-specific anxiety scale mean scores of the intervention group were 18.08 ± 4.52 and 16.55 ± 4.79; the control group were 20.50 ± 7.31 and 20.95 ± 7.69. While the difference in the intervention group was statistically significant (P = .011), no difference (P = .498) was determined in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals planned for urological surgery who listened to music for 30 minutes had reduced state and surgery-specific anxiety for 15 minutes after listening, however, this did not affect trait anxiety. The practice of listening to music before surgery may be recommended for individuals who are scheduled for urological surgery to reduce patient anxiety.

The Meaning of the Empathetic Nurse-Patient Communication: A Qualitative Study

Nurse-patient communication is the foremost step in providing professional care. Nurses can use effective communication as a simple and powerful tool to create comfort, happiness, and vitality to reduce the patient's grief and suffering. This study aimed to explain the nurses' perception of empathetic nurse-patient communication. This qualitative study was conducted with a content analysis method in 2020. Seventeen hospital nurses were recruited with maximum variation from the educational hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran, and semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Data analysis was performed using Graneheim and Lundman approach. Nurses establish empathetic communication with patients through three main categories of: (1) having humanistic and unique behaviors with the patients; (2) providing a calm and happy environment for the patients; and (3) reducing the patients' fear and consolation to them. These findings indicate empathetic communication that is appropriate to the conditions and needs of hospitalized patients. The three main categories were accomplished through 14 subcategories. The finding of this study can help to develop a training framework of empathetic nurse-patient communication and design instruments for measuring it.