This study was intended to examine the effects of providing nursing information about surgery in a surgical ward over a 50 day period from September, 1st to October 20th, 1998 in K University Hospital in Seoul. This quasi-experimental study used only a nonequivalent control group and an adopted post-test. A total of 54 patients were assigned to the control and experimental groups according to their admission dates to the hospital. Those who entered from September, 1st to 20th were selected as the control group, while those patients admitted from September 21th to October 20th were chosen as the experimental group. The experimental group consisted of 27 patients and received planned nursing information using a booklet. The twenty seven patients in the control group received the usual pre-operative (pre-op) care. The patient´s satisfaction was measured on the 4th day after surgery with a post-operative (post-op) Satisfaction Scale. The scale was developed by Lee, Yoon Hee(1995) and modified by the present researchers. No significant general characteristic differences were found between the control and the experimental groups.
The booklet included information on tests and treatment about the operation and preventive methods for post-op complications such as deep breathing & coughing, position change, lower extremity exercise, early ambulation, aseptic technique, observation of bleeding, use of equipment, and proper food management.
Data was analyzed using the x´´-test, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient through an SPSS computer program.
The results were as follows :
1. The hypothesis that the patients who were provided with planned nursing information would have a higher satisfaction level than those who received usual nursing care was supported (t=8.48, P=0.0004).
2. The mean score of the Satisfaction Scale was higher in experimental group than that of the control group. In particular, the experimental group was highly satisfied with the items such as ´nurse has patience´ and "skillful injection giving. The control group showed the highest score with the item of nurse co-works treatment with medical team. Both groups revealed the lowest score with the item of ´explanation about test results´.
3. No significant correlation was observed between the patients´ satisfaction and their general characteristics. Those satisfaction scores measured before and after the operation did not correlate significantly (r=0.097, P=0.790).
The above findings indicate that the provision of planned nursing information before surgery improved patient´s satisfaction after abdominal surgery. Accordingly, nurses should provide information about the operation before surgery to increase patient´s satisfaction, which in turn promotes the quality of their nursing care.
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