The effect of training given to nurses applied to nursing interventions regarding symptoms after brain tumor surgery

Brain tumors and their treatment characteristics cause biopsychosocial, sensory and cognitive changes in patients and these changes are often reflected through symptoms, which are subjective experiences. It has been reported that many symptoms with different characteristics develop, especially in the early and late periods after tumor surgery, with more neurological symptoms, and the symptom severity changes depending on the effect of the tumor and treatment. Early diagnosis by continuously evaluating the symptoms and determining and applying effective interventions are very important in terms of preventing adverse events related to the symptom, disease and treatment. It was aimed to examine the effect of the training given to nurses on the application and frequency of nursing interventions determined for the symptoms seen after surgery in patients who underwent brain tumor surgery. Pre-and post-test single group quasi-experimental type and cross-sectional pattern is made in this study, it was conducted with the participation of 15 nurses who worked in the inpatient neurology / neurosurgery clinic of a private foundation university hospital in Istanbul and received their informed consent and 80 patients with glial brain tumors they gave care. Nurses were trained using the form of nursing initiatives for symptoms determined by the researcher based on the relevant literature and multidisciplinary professional interviews and received expert opinion. Data on interventions and frequency and severity of symptoms applied to patients receiving care before (N=40 patients) and after training (N=40 patients), in the early postoperative period (first 2 days), patient and nurse data collection form, Karnofsky performance scale, M.D. Anderson's Brain Tumor symptom inventory was collected, using the form of initiatives developed. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistical analyzes (number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, min-max value), Chi-square test, independent sample t test and Pearson correlation analysis in SPSS 21.0 package program. Ethics committee approval of the study was obtained. The average age of nurses is 26.86±6.09, 86.7% are women, 53.3% are undergraduate graduates, their working time in the profession and clinic (60%, 73.3%) is between 1-3 years with a maximum rate. The average age of patients given pre-and post-education care was 47.58 ± 15.23, with the highest proportion being diagnosed with frontal lop tumor (32.5% and 40%) and the developmental symptom being focal neurological disorders (80% and 77.5%). The symptom severity of the patients after surgery was low, the application of interventions increased in all symptom groups after training, but being significant in half of these symptom groups (sensory symptoms, focal neurological disorders, general symptoms) (p <0.05), it was found that the total number and frequency of interventions for symptoms increased significantly, and the rates of interventions for each symptom were low. As the mean symptom severity score increased after the training, the total number of interventions increased for fatigue and sleep disturbance from sensory symptoms, difficulty in understanding from cognitive symptoms, loss of appetite and dry mouth from treatment evaluation symptoms, nausea and vomiting from GIS symptoms; The total frequency of interventions was found to increase in terms of cognitive symptoms, speech difficulties, and focal neurological disorder symptoms, numbness / tingling / numbness (p <0.05). After the training, the total number and frequency of interventions applied to symptom groups increased, but the rates of intervention for symptoms were found to be low in these groups, and the number and frequency of interventions for some symptoms increased according to the severity of the symptoms. Developing the scope and method of training for enterprises, increasing its duration, regularly updating and evaluating it; development of clinical forms and counseling and follow-up for interventions were recommended. Keywords: Brain tumor, symptom, nursing, intervention, surgery, education.