WOUND CARE Discharge Information Needs of Patients After Surgery

Copyright © 2006 by the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society J WOCN ■ May/June 2006 281 Barbara Pieper, PhD, RN, FAAN, CWOCN, CS, Professor/ Nurse Practitioner, College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich. Mary Sieggreen, MSN, APRN, BC, CVN, Nurse Practitioner, Vascular, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Barbara Freeland, MSN, APRN, BC, CDE, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Diabetes, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Pauline Kulwicki, MS, APRN, BC, CNRN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Neurosciences, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Madelyn Frattaroli, MSN, RN, APN, Nurse Practitioner, Cardiology, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Deborah Sidor, MSN, CCRN, APRN, BC, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Critical Care, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Maria Teresa Palleschi, MSN, RN, CCRN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Critical Care, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Jerry Burns, ACRN, CS, CNP, Nurse Practitioner, HIV/AIDS, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Donna Bednarski, MSN, RN, CNN, CS, CNP, Nurse Practitioner, Renal, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Beth Garretson, MSN, APRN, BC, Nurse Practitioner, Bariatric Surgery, Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Mich. Corresponding author: Barbara Pieper, PhD, RN, FAAN, CWOCN, CS, College of Nursing, Wayne State University, 5557 Cass Ave, Detroit, MI 48202 (e-mail: [email protected]). Patients who have undergone surgical procedures often have self-care concerns in their preparation for discharge from the hospital. This article examines the research literature about information needs of postoperative patients prior to their discharge. The most common concerns were the incision/wound care, pain management, activity level, monitoring for complications, symptom management, elimination, and quality of life. Because of their clinical knowledge of the perioperative experience, wound, ostomy, and continence nurses and other advanced practice nurses have a critical role in the development of discharge-educational programs for postoperative patients and caregivers. Because unmet discharge needs can contribute to poor patient outcomes and readmission, it is critical that wound, ostomy, and continence nurses, advanced practice nurses, and clinical staff nurses accurately identify patients’ informational needs and find ways to meet these needs especially with the aging population, new/advanced surgical procedures, vulnerability/poverty, and literacy level of patients.