Patients' Experiences of Day Surgery: A Qualitative Systematic Review.
Josephine Ransborg Sig, Charlotte Nielsen, Camilla Bille and 2 others
PMID 40159718WHAT IT FOUND
Patients described day surgery as minor and quick, then felt unprepared and reluctant to call for help when pain, fatigue and emotional distress made home recovery harder than expected.
Key findings
01Across 34 included qualitative studies, patients described day surgery as expected to be simple and quick, which could lead them to underprepare for home recovery.
02Patients reported that postoperative symptoms, including emotional imbalance and fatigue, could be more challenging than the operation itself.
03Patients said they needed practical and emotional support from family and professionals, and described hesitating to call because they doubted their problems were important enough.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only studies in English, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish were included, so relevant day surgery experience research in other languages may be missing. The search may not have found every relevant qualitative study because qualitative research uses varied terms and indexing. The review synthesises experiences across different operations, so it does not describe a specific procedure. The findings are interpretations of published qualitative studies, not direct patient interviews by the review authors.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as evidence that a specific day surgery pathway is unsafe or that a particular education or follow-up programme improves recovery. It synthesises patients' experiences and expectations; it does not test an intervention or measure clinical outcomes.