Nurses achieve quality with pre‐assessment clinics

Abstract

Nurses in a group of Wolverhampton Hospitals carried out a local research study to identify not only the level of patient satisfaction with pre-assessment clinics (PAC), but also what care nurses delivered in these clinics. Data were collected using both ethnographic and survey methods. Patients found the PAC visit valuable: it reduced stress and provided much needed information about the coming surgery. The skills nurses used and the tasks carried out were consistent throughout the Trust, and reflected the provision of a high standard of care.

Patients' perceptions of a pre-admission clinic

“…However, the number of patients included in the study is not clear. Clinch (1997) used both survey and ethnographic approaches to evaluate four pre‐admission clinics in different medical specialities. Bond & Barton (1994) conducted a patient satisfaction survey and distributed questionnaires to 92 patients.…”

The quality of perioperative care: development of a tool for the perceptions of patients

“…This is unfortunate, as preoperative instruction has beneficial affects with regard to patient knowledge (Lepczyk et al . 1990, Clinch 1997, Clements & Melby 1998), anxiety (Leigh et al . 1977), postoperative pain, length of hospitalization (Klafta & Roizen 1996, Shuldham 1999), and psychological coping outcomes (Gammon & Mulholland 1996).…”

Swedish Patients' Perceptions of a Preoperative Skin Test

“…Extensive information may have an opposite effect in the form of increased anxiety, however, if the information given is not adapted to the individual and balanced in the proper manner 35 . Studies have shown that patients who are prepared in special departments with appropriate information experience less anxiety than other patients 36–38 . These patients experience a feeling of being well taken care of and believe that the medical examinations are necessary and that the preparations for surgery are well‐organized, which contributes to their feelings of security and well‐being 39 …”