Preoperative Nursing Assessment: A Research Study

Abstract

This study identified characteristics of preoperative nursing assessments performed on ambulatory and morning admission patients by nurses at two facilities. Two tools used to identify these characteristics were developed by the investigators using the OR nursing criteria list adapted from the Rush-Medicus Process Monitoring Criteria Master List, and the "Competency statements in perioperative nursing." Results were compared between hospitals, between observed and self-reported activities, and between assessments made by perioperative nurses with differing demographic attributes. Significant results were found in nine items comparing the number of observed versus self-reported activities, and in two items comparing diploma nurses with baccalaureate nurses. The study has implications for entry into practice, for nursing activities in relation to prospective payment, and for relating conceptual models to nursing assessments. It strongly suggests the need for future research in the quality and characteristics of preoperative nursing assessment and documentation. Emphasis on providing the humanistic component of nursing care will help offset the dehumanizing elements of new methods of providing health care that are a result of the changing economic climate. After all, the ultimate focus of nursing care in general--and perioperative nursing in particular--is the patient, not the economic system. The determination of existing nursing assessment activities by this study provides baseline data for evaluating future changes in nursing care.