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Adult scoliosis: A personal experience
Author(s) -
Reeder Jean M
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
aorn journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1878-0369
pISSN - 0001-2092
DOI - 10.1016/s0001-2092(07)69388-0
Subject(s) - anxiety , scoliosis , coping (psychology) , psychology , perioperative nursing , medicine , nursing , psychotherapist , psychiatry , surgery , perioperative
My thoughts were far from the road as I drove away from my appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. He had recommended a posterior spinal fusion to correct my scoliosis. I was confronted with the reality that my busy organized life as a wife and military nurse would be disrupted. Roles would be reversed. I would soon be a patient facing a major surgical procedure and lengthy recovery. I anticipated this experience with much anxiety. It offered, however, the potential for personal and professional growth. I focused on this as a coping mechanism and as a means to channel my increasing anxiety. As a result of my firsthand surgical experience, I was to find my perceptions about nursing care altered and my commitment to caring strengthened.