Investigation of patient expectations from nurses before the operation

Investigation of Patient Expectations from Nurses before the Operation The purpose of this study was to evaluate expectations of surgery department patients from nurses before the operation in the Department of Surgery at Afyon Kocatepe University of Afyon, Institue of Health Science. A questionnaire applied to 120 patients. In 21.06.2004-15.03.2005, a total of 120 patients in Afyon were interviewed about pre- and post-operative expectations during their surgery. The questionnaire consisted of 57 questions, asking in detail about personal data, previous operations, service problems, their worries about operation, and nursing care. Concerning the data, Pearson chi-square (X2) test and percentage ratios were used in some analyses. As a result of this study it was found that 69% of patients would like to take the knowledge about procedures before the operation from the physicians, because of their satisfaction. However, when 57% of patients need something, they prefer to see the nurses and want to get rid off some of their worries by speaking with nurses. Getting some information about their operation from nurses or physicians and education level of the patients were found uncorrelated (p=u.08). According to the results of research, clinicians should discuss expectations with patients pre-operatively to improve satisfaction. Keywords: patients expectations, patients satisfactions, nurse-patient communication, preoperative education.