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Patients' perceptions of their postoperative recovery for one month
Author(s) -
Forsberg Angelica,
Vikman Irene,
Wälivaara BrittMarie,
Engström Åsa
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.12793
Subject(s) - medicine , context (archaeology) , physical therapy , orthopedic surgery , mann–whitney u test , gastric bypass surgery , descriptive statistics , surgery , gastric bypass , weight loss , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , biology , obesity
Aims and objectives To explore orthopaedic and general surgery patients' perceptions of their postoperative recovery for one month. Background In general, nursing research in the postoperative context has been directed towards a single symptom or area, which is valuable. However, there is a lack of studies of orthopaedic and general surgery patients' perceptions of postoperative recovery from a short‐term perspective. Design A quantitative approach with a longitudinal design was used. Methods A total of 180 patients participated in the study. Data were collected using a standardised questionnaire, the Postoperative Recovery Profile, for self‐assessment of recovery. Descriptive statistics reported as proportions were used for the categorical variables. Analytic statistics were used to identify statistically significant differences. Mean values and t ‐tests were used for quantity variables, and Mann–Whitney U ‐tests and Chi‐squared tests were used for nonparametric variables. Results Overall, the orthopaedic patients were substantially less recovered than the general surgery patients. Two‐thirds of the orthopaedic patients and half of the general surgery patients perceived severe or moderate pain in the acute recovery phase. Within the general surgery group, there were significant differences in the recovery between the Gastric Bypass patients and colon/ileum surgery patients. The gastric bypass patients were overall more recovered than the other groups of patients. The Gastric Bypass patients reported that they had improved after one month compared to their own status prior to surgery. Conclusions and relevance to clinical practice Nursing support for orthopaedic patients must be improved, especially after they are discharged from the hospital. To structure and monitor individual recovery, a top‐five priority profile of the most important problems should be used during follow‐up calls after the patient is discharged from the hospital. Postoperative pain continues to represent a clinical problem that requires attention. Heterogeneity in the perceptions of recovery within the general surgery group was indicated, which may depend on the surgical procedure as well as the patients' expectations and comparisons with their lives before surgery. Rather than return to their preoperative levels, certain patients tend to continue towards a new or different life postoperatively.