CATEGORIES | SUB-CATEGORY | CODES | EXAMPLE |
---|---|---|---|
Pre-operative information | Contact | Direct phone number Ask questions Clarify information Write down information | Nurse; “That they have a number they can ring when they get back to them self after being informed about the surgery. Maybe it could be written a place that they get proper information under admission. I believe 90% of the patients do not remember anything. Patient; “Before the operation I had no idea who to contact. I got referred here and there and suddenly I got a letter informing me about an operation”. |
Medication safety | Lack of medication lists Updated medication list at general practitioners office Little insight in own medication Identify anticoagulants with their general practitioners Learn their medications | Surgeon; “I don’t believe we always ask if they use anticoagulants and they don’t always understand that it is anticoagulants they are using. Patients often relate to the medication name and misunderstandings can often happen”. Patient; “I wonder what kind of information the nurses have. When I came to the ward after my surgery, I was offered some pain relief and I am allergic to certain medications. Luckily I asked her because I did not recognise those tablets and asked what they were and it turned out I was allergic to them”. | |
Health status | Ensure correct treatment Diabetes High blood pressure Cardio-Vascular disease Chronic diseases Non Healing wounds Regular control at the general practitioners office Test for multi resistance bacteria | Nurse; “I am thinking about our own health. Say, that someone is overweight; they might have diabetes that are not under control. That the general practitioners consider these things before the patients comes in for an operation.” Nurse; “We have talked a lot about it in our ward. I believe it is very important because some patients come in a such a bad state. So I think the elective patients should consider own health and the general practitioners should be involved earlier and help them”. | |
Optimizing health | Patients responsibility Contact with general practitioner Inform patients Exercise Stop smoking Stop drinking/drugs Nutritional status | Surgeon; “We know that it’s documented that if you quit smoking the chances of complications reduce, but there is now culture for informing patients about it. Nurse; “Most patients sit down in a chair and stay there, when they get informed about their surgery. I wish they could contact their general practitioner and ask how much activity they can have before surgery so they do not become passive. Because the whole thing is to optimize the patient health to prevent complications”. | |
Dental status | Regular dental checks Recommend to check dental status Poor dental status Infections due to dental status Extraction of teeth day before surgery | Surgeon; “I remember we had a patient who had to remove half of her teeth before we could operate. I believe people don’t understand how important it is that their teeth are well kept”. Surgeon; “one patient had an old rote canal and at the bottom of the tooth there was a little thing that they had not manage to remove. He had to go to a specialist and it was not possible to get it done the week before the surgery”. | |
Read information | Patient need for encouragement Accurate information Don’t use google | Nurse; “I know there is a lot of the patients who don’t read the information given to them” Patient; “When you receive all the papers before your surgery, it was too much I had no energy to read it all” | |
Pre-operative preparations | Preparations 2 weeks before surgery | Type of surgery Time of surgery Bring close family/friend to information meeting Clarify when to stop anticoagulants Fill out required forms | Patient; “I should have stopped my blood thinners 2 days before my surgery, no one asked me so I stopped them the day before because I remembered it from my last operation, but it was too late”. Ward doctor; “When you arrive at the hospital to the information meeting it is so important that the patients bring an up to date medication list so we know what kind of medication they are using and we don’t have to wonder if they are using anticoagulants. Yes that they bring an updated list maybe this can be one of the preparations the patients need to do before their surgery”. |
Inform your surgical ward | Patient forget to inform about important information Don’t think it’s important Other medical investigations Cold our infections just before surgery | Patient; “If you use any form for medications or need something I believe we as patients’ needs to take some responsibility to inform before surgery. Something can happen and if you have not informed about it before your surgery it is kind of your fault”. Nurse; “Or they actually are under investigation of other diagnoses, they have to let us know or their operation might have to be cancelled”. Other Nurse: “or if they get sick with throat infections and can’t be operated on”. | |
Plan your discharge | Length of hospitalisation Discharged before expected Prolonged hospitalisation due to not having someone at home Home care Aids/bandages/medication Planed discharge safer at home | Nurse; “the patients are very interested in the practical things before they come in, but we have to focus on the things that has to be ready before they get here and what they want after their surgery are they considering rehabilitation or do they live alone?” Patient; “You are going to be reduced and it is wise to have someone that can look after you at home and then you have the chance to inform the nurses that you are alone and might need an extra night in the hospital”. | |
On admission to hospital | Need for a checklist on important info Patients can check and request missing info Remove rings, necklaces, piercings When to stop eating and drinking Pre surgery shower routines Allergies Updated medication list Natural medications or nutritional supplements Are you informed about expected pain | Patient; “It was own times on drinking clear fluids, I remember it from last time I had surgery. I was told that I could drink clear fluids until a few hours before my surgery. This time I did not receive any information so I was a bit unsure when I should stop eating and drinking”. Ward Doctor; “We do have a journal system that is supposed to be updated with patients’ current medicines but it’s not always updated. We often use old admission notes because the patients don’t have anything with them and the referral dose not usually contain a medication list”. | |
Just before surgery | Are operational are marked correctly? Avoid getting cold Ask surgical team to use safe surgery | Patient; “The surgical team was ready and they started to look for the marked surgical site which was not there. They got a bit quiet and then they asked control questions before the operation started”. | |
Post-operative information | Preventions and complications | Information about complications Often unsure at home What is normal or not What to do in an emergency Special considerations | Surgeon; “It is very important that patients contact us if they experiences complications and that they adhere restrictions”. Patient; “I thought this does not feel normal and I was walking around thinking Oh my god this is not good. I called the ward all the time because it was so swollen and warm. Oh my god this is not right but it apparently was all normal”. |
Restrictions and activity | When to start exercising Stayed in bed for weeks Confusion about restrictions | Nurse; “Patients own efforts in relations to mobilisation and what they can do themselves to reduce hospitalisation time after their operation”. Nurse; “At the same time it is this about training, how much can they do, because they are so scared that they will damage something or do too much. But it is important that they exercise and don’t sit down”. | |
Medication safety | Start new medications Restart medications Don’t remember information Rushed information Need a checklist Ask for missing information Medication side effects New medication list | Surgeon; “it is very important to inform the patients. I believe it is the core reason for them taking their medicine and understanding their disease and that they contact their general practitioners”. Patient; “I believe the most important thing the doctor did was to line up all my medications. Some of them I knew from before and some I did not know. I explained to me very clearly, what each medicine was for and how long I was going to use them. This was very useful for me especially when you take 5–6 different medicines it is easy to mix them up”. | |
Pain relief | Taking too little Taking too much Regular usage When to stop What to do if still in pain | Patient; “It is easy to forget when you are laying there and then suddenly you have to ouch!! You are in your own world and suddenly it is too painful and you take double the amount of pain relief you should”. Nurse; “And it is reductions of pain relief, many patients have used large doses over longer time”. | |
Stomach functions | Often experiences stomach pains Constipation Prevention/medication Worried something is wrong | Surgeon; “The day after it always take some time before the stomach functions work again. This is not a problem if the patients are informed about it”. Patient; “I had problems with my stomach and I had to ask. I was informed that it was normal, I did not know that and it would have been good to know”. | |
Post-operative plans and follow-up | Further care | Wound care Removal of sutures Other treatment Test results Sick certificate When can I shower; Whom to contact for questions | Nurse; “Further plan, times for things, how to treat the wound, showering, precautions and whom to contact”. Patient; “I showered with the bandage and did not change it. I looked if there was something yellow on it because I was told to. There was some wound discharge on it the first days which made me unsure”. |
Appointments | Expected time and date Referral to other specialities What to do if not received | Nurse; “It is not always patients feel a responsibility to enquire about missing follow-up appointments. They have to take some responsibility too”. Patient; “kind of trust that you will get an appointment and you don’t really think about it anymore. But of course if you had a checklist or something you would go Oh I haven’t got my appointment”. |