Nursing Commons^™

Transforming The Preoperative Patient Education Experience, Hilary Joachim

Theses and Graduate Projects

In 2009 a large Midwestern healthcare institution introduced preoperative education classes for orthopedic patients undergoing joint replacement surgery to better prepare them for surgery and promote a timely discharge from the hospital. According to literature findings, preoperative patient education decreases patient anxiety, improves pain control, and decreases length of stay in the hospital. While length of stay for joint replacement patients within this healthcare instifution decreased, it was difficult to pinpoint the effect of the educational classes due to other simultaneous changes in postoperative orthopedic care, such as earlier mobilization of patients. Through an analysis of class attendance, it was …