Background: Although the role of the operation nurses in making preoperative patient visits has received significant attention recently, published studies have yet to establish the efficacy of this role.Purpose: This research studied the comparative effects of preoperative visits by ward and operation nurses on anxiety and physiological indicators in total‐knee‐replacement patients.Methods: This study used a quasi‐experimental design with purposive sampling that recruited 74 patients as control‐group participants and 86 as experimental‐group participants. The State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and physiological indicators including blood pressure, respiration rate, and pulse rate were applied. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was used to examine the effects of the preoperative patient visits.Results: There were no statistically significant differences in anxiety level or physiological indicators between participants in the two groups on the day immediately prior to their surgery. Postoperative anxiety in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group (p<.001). Moreover, the experimental group earned significantly better postoperative results in terms of respiration rate (p<.05), heart rate (p<.001), and blood pressure (p<.001).Conclusions/Implications for Practice: This study supports that total‐knee replacement patients obtain better outcomes when given adequate perioperative information preoperatively by operation nurses than by ward nurses. Additional research designs should further examine other effects not covered by the present study such as cost, time, and length of hospital stay.
Background: Although the role of the operation nurses in making preoperative patient visits has received significant attention recently, published studies have yet to establish the efficacy of this role.Purpose: This research studied the comparative effects of preoperative visits by ward and operation nurses on anxiety and physiological indicators in total‐knee‐replacement patients.Methods: This study used a quasi‐experimental design with purposive sampling that recruited 74 patients as control‐group participants and 86 as experimental‐group participants. The State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory and physiological indicators including blood pressure, respiration rate, and pulse rate were applied. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was used to examine the effects of the preoperative patient visits.Results: There were no statistically significant differences in anxiety level or physiological indicators between participants in the two groups on the day immediately prior to their surgery. Postoperative anxiety in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group (p<.001). Moreover, the experimental group earned significantly better postoperative results in terms of respiration rate (p<.05), heart rate (p<.001), and blood pressure (p<.001).Conclusions/Implications for Practice: This study supports that total‐knee replacement patients obtain better outcomes when given adequate perioperative information preoperatively by operation nurses than by ward nurses. Additional research designs should further examine other effects not covered by the present study such as cost, time, and length of hospital stay.