The effect of the informative role the nurses on the postoperative anxiety levels at the thyroidectomy candidates

2SUMMARYThyroidectomy is an operation that the thyroid gland is excised partially or totally.The most common anixous reasons for the operation candidates are death due to thegeneral anesthesia and post-operative pain. In additon to these reasons, aesthetical fearsat the operation site, voice loss and voice disorders are the other discouraging factorsthat increases the anxiety. This study is a descriptive investigation that aims todetermine the effect of the informative role of the nurses on the post-operative anxietylevels at the thyroidectomy candidates.The study was done in the general surgery service at the Medical School of AfyonKocatepe University between November 6, 2006 - April 25, 2007. The study was donewith 60 female patients; 30 are control group, the other 30 are the study group. Theanxiety levels of the control and study patients were measured with State-Trait AnxietyInventory. Demographic data such as age, occupation and education status which mayeffect the anxiety levels of the patients were recorded. Routine pre-operative informationwas given to the control group while detailed pre-operative information was given to thestudy group. The anxiety levels of the patients were again determined with post-operative interview by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The collected data was recorded inthe SPSS programme. Statistical analysis was done with paired t-test, Student t-test andvariance analysis. p<0.05 was admitted statistically significant.As a result, we observed that routine pre-operative information did not effect thepost-operative patient anxiety level. But, we determine that detailed pre-operativeinformation increased the post-operative patient anxiety level.Key words: Thyroidectomy, anxiety, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, nursingeducation