Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

Introduction: The patient waiting to undergo to the operating room has subjective needs and intense emotions to which the nurse has to respond. The characteristics of the relationship between operator and assisted in this context are very limited. However, it is necessary that the patient is considered first of all as a person and not only a passive body.
Purpose: The qualitative study has the purpose to identify the patient’s emotional experience during the conscious journey in the operative block, to identify the most important elements of the relationship with the nurse and the team and to avoid the subjects’ dehumanization.
Method: Data collection was performed in the period from May to September 2018 at Sassuolo Hospital, through the execution of 31 interviews guided by a semi-structured questionnaire in three surgical departements. The instrument was built following the literature and adapted to the organization of Sassuolo.
Results: Initially operating room looked like an unknown and frightening world, but it has become a familiar place. The most influential factors on the patients’ emotions and that contributed to the transformation of the context were conversations with nurses, the gestures received by the team and the expectations on the experience.
Conclusions: Conscious journey in the operative block is a set of extremely delicate moments that can have a meaning deeper than what appears. Most relevant elements related by patients were simple and silent, but they made the experience positive for the majority and, above all, patients felt they were considered as live person.
Key words: Nurses, preoperative care, preoperative psychological management, preoperative emotions.