A qualitative study of the operating room experience of patients who underwent surgery under spinal anesthesia: "It was like an adventure"

Clients' experiences in their first entry to the operating room: a descriptive phenomenological study

BACKGROUND

The unfamiliar atmosphere of the operating room, waiting for anesthesia, and the process of surgery and anesthesia are some of the factors causing fear and anxiety in patients. It leads to physical and psychological pressure on patients. Better understanding of patients' feelings, beliefs, or fears and recording their experiences for optimal care after surgery is helpful. This study explains the experiences of clients in the first entry to the operating room.

METHODS

This qualitative study was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological method. In this study, 17 patients who had the experience of entering the operating room for the first time as an elective surgery under general anesthesia over the last 6 months were purposefully selected as participants. Then, they underwent an in-depth and semi-structured interview. After conducting the interview, the participants' statements were qualitatively analyzed using the seven-step Colaizzi method. During the steps of this study, Lincoln and Guba's four reliable criteria were observed.

RESULTS

By continuous analysis of interviews about patients' experiences, 308 codes, 10 sub-themes, 6 primary themes, and 3 general themes were obtained. Themes included unpleasant emotions experienced, unpleasant atmosphere factors, and the induction of relaxation and hope.

CONCLUSION

Patients' exposure to an unfamiliar place with new and unknown equipment, personnel with different clothing, stress, worry, psychosomatic reactions following stress, and annoying environmental factors can lead to an unpleasant experience for patients, if they are not managed. Also, the effective communication of the surgical team with the patients leads to reducing or removing the stress and complications caused by it.

Patient experiences during the planned perioperative care pathway: An integrative review

AIMS

This integrative review aimed to synthesize evidence about the patients' experiences during the planned perioperative care pathway.

DESIGN

Integrative review.

DATA SOURCES

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline Ovid, Scopus, and American Psychological Association (APA) PsychINFO. Original, peer-reviewed studies published in English between 2012 and 2023 exploring patient experiences during the planned perioperative care pathway were reviewed.

METHODS

This review was guided by the Whittemore and Knafl method and followed PRISMA guidelines to search the literature. Twenty-two articles were selected for the final study.

RESULTS

Three themes emerged: Sharing of information is empowering; interpersonal relationships are valued by patients, and hospital systems and care co-ordination influence the patient experience.

CONCLUSIONS

The quality and consistency of the information patients receive can both support and undermine patient confidence in health professionals. The quality of relationships that participants experience and effective communication with health professionals can support or compromise the quality of the patients' perioperative experience. The nature of the hospital systems and care co-ordination in hospital has implications for the quality of recovery from surgery.

IMPACT

This review evaluates whether national and international health services and organizations, adhering to the WHO guidelines, have developed and implemented intentionally focused perioperative care with the aims to achieving effective and sustainable surgical outcomes through increased patient satisfaction.

NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This article is an integrative review and does not include patient or public contribution.

A qualitative study on patients' and health care professionals' perspectives regarding care delivered during CIED operation

BACKGROUND

Cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) has proven to be an invaluable tool in the practice of cardiology. Patients who have undergone CIED surgery with local anesthesia may result in fear, insecurity and suffering. Some studies have put efforts on ways to improve intraoperative experience of patients with local anesthesia, but researches concerning experiences of CIED patients during surgery is in its infancy.

METHODS

Based on semi-structured and in-depth interviews, a qualitative design was conducted in a tertiary general hospital in China from May 2022 to July 2023.Purposeful sampling of 17 patients received CIED surgery and 20 medical staff were interviewed. Thematic analysis with an inductive approach was used to identify dominant themes.

RESULTS

Four themes emerged from the data: (1) Safety and success is priority; (2) Humanistic Caring is a must yet be lacking; (3) Paradox of surgery information given; (4) Ways to improve surgery experiences in the operation.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraoperative care is significant for CIED surgery. To improve care experience during surgery, healthcare professionals should pay attention to patients' safety and the factors that affecting humanistic caring in clinical practice. In addition, information support should consider information-seeking styles and personal needs. Besides, the four approaches presented in this study are effective to improve the intraoperative care experience.