A quantitative, multicentre, longitudinal study of patient experiences after gynaecological day surgery.
Anne-Marie Gran Bruun, Katrine Svensen, Elin Johansen and 3 others
PMID 36210540WHAT IT FOUND
Women after gynaecological day surgery rated recovery lower at four weeks than the day after surgery, but reported positive care experiences.
Nurses should expect lower recovery ratings later and review discharge information.
Key findings
01Quality of recovery was significantly lower at T2 than T1, with all participants scoring 133 at T1 and 127 at T2 on a 150-point scale.
02Patients reported satisfaction to a large or very large degree, including that nurses were interested in their situation and cared for them.
03Baseline health-related quality of life was the only factor significantly associated with recovery scores, but the association was weak.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study did not reach the planned sample of 100 patients from each hospital. Only 193 of 444 participants responded at the four-week follow-up, which may limit reliability and generalizability. The participants were only women having gynaecological day surgery, so results may not transfer to men or other surgeries. Patients readmitted within 72 hours were excluded, so very early complications may be missing. The first follow-up was by telephone with study nurses, while the second follow-up was self-reported in retrospect, which may change how experiences are rated. The study reports associations and experiences, not tested interventions, so it cannot show that changing information or follow-up improves outcomes.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Norwegian Nurses' Association and collaborative fundings from Østfold University College. The funders did not participate in planning or conducting the study, or in analysing and disseminating findings. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that day surgery recovery gets worse because care was poor. The lower four-week recovery scores are self-reported retrospectively, only about half of the first-time participants answered the second questionnaire, and the study did not compare different discharge information strategies.