The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The patient's experience of day surgery

The patient's experience of day surgery
The patient's experience of day surgery

This research explored the patient's experience of day surgery, by interviewing women following varicose vein surgery. A greater understanding of the patients 'journey' through day surgery was gained and significant issues affecting their overall views identified. As with any innovative and expanding service, there is always room for further improvement and so the study aimed to provide information for those involved in the provision of day surgery. The unit nurses' views and perceptions of some of the main patient issues were explored in order to better identify priorities for action.

There was an overall satisfaction with the service provided and many patients welcomed the differences between day surgery and a conventional hospital admission. Despite the general patient perception that the operation was 'only day surgery', all the women had felt anxious, particularly about the anaesthetic and home recovery. Most experienced uneventful recoveries following the operation, however, unrealistic expectations of the recovery were evident, with patients often equating day surgery to day recovery. The social and financial pressures of recovering at home were also highlighted, often leading to a lack of support or inadequate recovery. Often post-operative advice was not followed and the importance of the informal carer not fully recognised.

The study underlined many of the difficulties in providing effective, individualised information in the limited time available in day surgery and also the importance of continuity and co-ordination of care through the patient 'journey', particularly prior to admission and support following discharge.

It was apparent that the nursing staff on the day unit were committed to delivering high standards of care and showed understanding of the patients' experiences and needs. However, the patients had not voiced many of their concerns to the staff, often because they had perceived the unit was busy and the staff did not appear to have the time.

University of Southampton
Jones, Jane
Jones, Jane

Jones, Jane (1999) The patient's experience of day surgery. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This research explored the patient's experience of day surgery, by interviewing women following varicose vein surgery. A greater understanding of the patients 'journey' through day surgery was gained and significant issues affecting their overall views identified. As with any innovative and expanding service, there is always room for further improvement and so the study aimed to provide information for those involved in the provision of day surgery. The unit nurses' views and perceptions of some of the main patient issues were explored in order to better identify priorities for action.

There was an overall satisfaction with the service provided and many patients welcomed the differences between day surgery and a conventional hospital admission. Despite the general patient perception that the operation was 'only day surgery', all the women had felt anxious, particularly about the anaesthetic and home recovery. Most experienced uneventful recoveries following the operation, however, unrealistic expectations of the recovery were evident, with patients often equating day surgery to day recovery. The social and financial pressures of recovering at home were also highlighted, often leading to a lack of support or inadequate recovery. Often post-operative advice was not followed and the importance of the informal carer not fully recognised.

The study underlined many of the difficulties in providing effective, individualised information in the limited time available in day surgery and also the importance of continuity and co-ordination of care through the patient 'journey', particularly prior to admission and support following discharge.

It was apparent that the nursing staff on the day unit were committed to delivering high standards of care and showed understanding of the patients' experiences and needs. However, the patients had not voiced many of their concerns to the staff, often because they had perceived the unit was busy and the staff did not appear to have the time.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1999

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 463578
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463578
PURE UUID: 6af6e668-bc5c-41c6-a7bc-0a65ed8a7dc4

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:54
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 20:54

Export record

Contributors

Author: Jane Jones

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×