What Is the Best Way to Reduce Postoperative Questions and Shorten Hospital Stay in Surgical?

Introduction

There are many questions brought forward in postoperative during surgery. Thus, there is a need to formulate ways of reducing the questions and the length of stay in health facilities by patients. The questions could either be addressed by the patient or the caretakers like family members. The questions could include the length of stay, postoperative pain, necessary hospital readmission, things to avoid and any related infection.

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One way of minimizing the questions and the reducing length of stay is by encouraging physical activities like training aimed at increasing general body energy and the area being operated on. This strengthens the patient helping them to recover early enough. Also, nutrition should be improved prior to and after surgery. Nutrition helps the body to function properly, thus enhancing good health in patients (Ibrahim et al., 2013). In addition, education practices should be provided to patients through appropriate advice on what the process entails and what to expect as well as guiding the patients on the best practices before and after surgery.

Moreover, psychological intervention should be administered. This will help patients to deal with their fears, anxiety, and stresses enabling them to deal with the situation courageously, hence improving their recovery process. Furthermore, the nurse practitioners should perform their clinical observations on patients prior and after surgery to assess their conditions and report their progress (Ibrahim et al., 2013). Lastly, it is important that the hospitals and the family members guide patients on the importance of abstaining from using drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Drugs potentially interfere with the performance of medications used during surgery which slows the healing process and increases hospital stays.

Pre-Operative Education

Education in elective spine surgery is important and viable for patients. In pain management education can help in boosting the contentment of patients and create a positive outlook. Education offered by nurse practitioners and standard care affects patients differently. Standard care involves educating patients on general things that are required in surgery (Messer, Weinberg & Sandner-Kiesling, 2010). However, education by nurse practitioners is involving and relatable to patients. Nurse practitioners are able to work with an individual patient and assess their condition from the beginning. Thus, they offer individual-based health information, advising on the best exercise methods to perform as well as providing psychosocial education which helps patients deal with their fears and anxiety (Pashikanti & Von, 2012). As a result, the nurse practitioners have been instrumental in improving patient satisfaction on how to manage the pain in the first six weeks of surgery. Moreover, through their education and assessment, they have been able to identify patients who are not ready for the surgery and helping them to cope with it at a personal level.

Reference

Ibrahim, M. S., Khan, M. A., Nizam, I., & Haddad, F. S. (2013). Peri-operative interventions producing better functional outcomes and enhanced recovery following total hip and knee arthroplasty: an evidence-based review. BMC medicine, 11(1), 37.

Messerer, B., Gutmann, A., Weinberg, A., & Sandner-Kiesling, A. (2010). Implementation of a standardized pain management in a pediatric surgery unit. Pediatric surgery international, 26(9), 879-889.

Pashikanti, L., & Von Ah, D. (2012). Impact of early mobilization protocol on the medical-surgical inpatient population: an integrated review of literature. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 26(2), 87-94.