Strategies to improve patient adherence in the preoperative setting

Abstract

Patient education is a fundamental part of nursing practice. In the outpatient preoperative setting, patients are asked to perform self-care tasks necessary to ensure successful postoperative outcomes. Failure to adhere to preoperative education has resulted in poor outcomes, poor patient satisfaction, and the squandering of scarce health care resources. The purpose of this study was to test the value of an interactive checklist in improving preoperative patient adherence. The checklist was evaluated for its effectiveness in improving patient adherence to preoperative instructions as compared to standard preoperative educational methods. Eleven elderly patients having cataract surgery were randomly assigned into treatment and control groups. The conceptual framework for this study was Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. Tactile stimulation and task division were employed to attempt to increase subject adherence. This was proposed to increase self-efficacy and decrease patient anxiety. No significant findings were obtained from this study, which may be a result of the small sample size. Efforts to replicate this study are warranted, however, given its significance to nursing, patient satisfaction, and the conservation of diminishing health care resources.