• Amy Berardinelli and Esther I Bernhofer.
• Mather/MOSC/Seidman PACUs, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH. Electronic address: amyberardinelli@icloud.com.
• J. Perianesth. Nurs. 2020 Dec 1; 35 (6): 665-670.

PurposeTo analyze differences in health confidence levels regarding discharge instructions between two groups of same-day surgery patients.DesignComparative and descriptive design.MethodsPhone surveys to two groups: those who received follow-up phone calls from a registered nurse (RN) and those who received standard care instructions at discharge only.FindingsIn 74 same-day surgery patients (n = 37 per group), all participants expressed high health confidence in implementing discharge instructions. Results revealed no higher health confidence levels in patients who received RN follow-up phone calls, no difference between groups attending postoperative appointments, and no relationships between subject demographics, health confidence level, and postoperative complications between groups.ConclusionsThe use of specialized RNs to conduct postoperative phone calls may not be cost effective. When RNs provide excellent instructions to patients in person, it may lead to sufficient patient health confidence. Personal and nurse-provided education should be considered a standard, and the outcomes of costly follow-up phone calls should be examined.Copyright © 2020 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

9 keywords...

hide…