Systematic review of the effectiveness of patient education in the prevention of postoperative complications

Abstract

Abstract Background Nursing philosophers have known for decades that the nurse's role in patient education is an important aspect of nursing. Patient education is part of surgical nurses' role, as they are educating patients to play an active part in maintaining their health status after surgery. The postoperative period is one of the most critical and hazardous times with regard to patients developing complications. A complication is an unintended adverse outcome that can occur after a medical or surgical procedure, that is not caused by disease, and results in health deterioration. Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of patient education in the prevention of postoperative complications. Methods Design: a systematic review (narrative review). Data sources: articles were searched from 2010 to 2021 using many databases: CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library, in addition to hand searches. Articles were selected for review using inclusion-exclusion criteria. Studies were included based on their relevance after reading the abstract and full text, while others were excluded. After using the CASP (RCT) tool to assess the quality of each study, the relevant articles were found and presented in the table summary. Results Ten studies, that included 1,416 participants, were covered, eight of which were RCT and two were quasi-experimental. The intervention in all studies was based on verbal education, with or without written education. The content of the interventions varied widely. Frequent outcomes evaluated were complication, anxiety, length of stay, depression, and knowledge. IV Conclusion The findings of this systematic review proved that the insufficient information that patients received could increase their risk of complications. Moreover, it highlights the factors that can increase the risk of complications, and how patient education can reduce these factors, and so reduce the risk of complications. These factors were anxiety, pain, and depression. Finally, it suggests that providing written information combined with verbal education is essential to ensure that the information is remembered. Further studies might investigate the best educational intervention methods for surgical patients.