Patients' experience of oral day case surgery: Feedback from a nurse-led pre-admission clinic

Abstract

A nurse-led pre-admission clinic (PAC) was introduced in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 1996 to help reduce patient failures and cancelled operations on the day of admission and to improve pre-operative patient assessment and education for oral day case surgery. In order to investigate patients' perceptions of their experience and to ascertain their views on their PAC appointment, a questionnaire was sent to 178 day case patients operated upon between October 1997 and January 1998. Questions were asked relating to details of their PAC visit and subsequent surgical experience, with additional comments invited. Eighty eight completed questionnaires were returned (49% response rate), which showed a greater than 90% satisfaction with the PAC. Patients reported fewer worries, increased confidence and an improved understanding of both their surgery and peri-operative care following PAC attendance. Eighty eight percent of the additional comments reported a favourable experience. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.