Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is a critical indicator of healthcare quality, especially in surgical settings. Evaluating satisfaction before and after surgical procedures provides insights into the effectiveness of care, communication, and overall patient experience.

Objective: This study aims to assess patient satisfaction during the preoperative and postoperative phases and identify key factors associated with satisfaction levels. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients who underwent surgical procedures.

Data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering demographics, preoperative education, communication, pain management, emotional support, and postoperative care. Satisfaction was measured using a standardized Likert scale. Statistical analysis was performed to identify factors significantly associated with satisfaction levels. Results: Among 16 patients surveyed, overall satisfaction was 50% preoperatively and 44% postoperatively.

Key factors associated with higher satisfaction included clear communication with healthcare providers, effective pain control, emotional support, and thorough preoperative education (p < 0.05). Age, type of surgery, and length of hospital stay also showed significant associations. Conclusion: Patient satisfaction is influenced by both clinical and interpersonal aspects of care. Enhancing communication, patient education, and pain management can significantly improve satisfaction in surgical care. Tailored interventions addressing these areas may lead to better patient experiences and outcomes.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background of the study

Patient satisfaction with pre and post-operative care and its associated factors in surgical procedures at the Muea Health Center.

Surgery is life-enhancing procedure for millions of patients every year. However, the operation is not in itself an isolated ‘event’: it is part of a process which includes preparation and recovery. Undergoing an invasive procedure increases a patient’s risk of infection, medical complications, and induces overall mental stress (Knox et al., 2015).

A nurse has an essential role in preoperative care and assessment to ensure the patient is prepared mentally and physically for surgery (Dimpel, 2014). Post-operative care monitors a patient’s recovery by controlling pain, watching for infection, and assessing for postoperative complications that may arise.

Ensuring the quality of the entire perioperative pathway is important to achieving the best possible outcome for every patient (WHO, 2014). All patients undergoing elective surgery should be assessed preoperatively in order to establish that the patients do not have any comorbidities (Pollard et al., 2014). Preoperative assessments have been shown to minimize cancellations on the day of the operation and reduce patient anxiety (Rai et al., 2015). Though preoperative assessment varies markedly between hospitals, the essential objective is that the patient is fully prepared before the day of admission. In recent years post-operative assessment (POA) has become part of surgical care.

This presents an opportunity to optimizecomorbidities, treat acute illness and put in place a preoperative management plan (Burnside and Snowden, 2014).Postoperative care begins as the patient leaves the operating room and arrives in recovery. Nursing staff are responsible for the patient’s return to a normal mental state after anesthesia and observe for potential complications that could have arisen from the surgery (Siragusa et al., 2011).Acute post-operative pain remains a major problem, resulting in multiple undesirable outcomes if inadequately controlled (Correll et al., 2016).

Most surgical patients spend their immediate post-operative period in the post anesthetic care unit (PACU), where pain management, being unsatisfactory and requiring improvements, affects further recovery. The post anesthetic care unit (PACU) provides a safe environment for patients to receive and recover from anesthesia and surgery. Assessment is the first part of the nursing process and utilized to highlight aspects that need to be addressed. Genuineness and trusting relationships are instrumental in building a positive relationship with the patient to further facilitate the completion of the nursing process in PACU (McKendrick et al., 2014).

Assessment practices are based on the principle initiated by identifying patients with high anxiety intensity, a sign of physical illnesses or tissue injuries. Since 2011, the national guidelines for surgical assessment and pain management, provided by the Royal College of Anesthesiologists of Ghana recommended that healthcare professionals continue to consider pre and post-operative assessment as less important within the policies of all hospitals. Patients should be counselled and their consent obtained before performing all preoperative investigations (Chanvej et al., 2013).

Nurses have a variety of roles and responsibilities associated with the patient’s surgical care. Nurses provide care for patients before, during, and after surgical operations; this is collectively called preoperative care nursing. It is a specialized nursing area where a registered nurse works as a team member of other surgical health care professionals. Preoperative preparation and teaching limitations increase the need for postoperative support and managing underlying medical conditions (Matt, 2015).

1.2 Problem Statement

A patient’s recovery after surgery is one of the most important health processes in planned hospital healthcare that has a direct impact on patients’ welfare and welfare systems (Benner, 2011).Not only because it is the most cost-effective strategy for the health and welfare system, but also because it is the most successful factor for every individual patient in order to reduce suffering and to grasp the possibilities of health that the planned surgery intended.

One of the most important aspects of the work is to promote a healthy recovery from the preoperative to the very first post-operative minute (Herr et al.,2011). Ideally, before surgery, a health care professional conducts a preoperative evaluation to verify that a person is fit and ready for the surgery (Nicholson et al., 2013). Nurses are to care for patients during pre and post-operative phase of any surgical procedure.

This may include physical examination, vital signs monitoring, past medical history, pain management, wound dressing etc. Inappropriate pre and post-operative care of patients can lead to infections, blood loss, failure of wound healing at the surgical site which can lead to disruption of the closure leading to seroma, hematoma, wound dehiscence, urinary retention, ling complication and death. This therefore persuaded the investigator to carry out this study aimed at Patients satisfaction with pre and post-operative care and its associated factors in surgical procedures in the Muea health center

1.3 Research Questions

1. Do patients at the Muea Health Center fully satisfied with pre-operative care procedure?
2. Do patients at the Muea Health Center fully satisfied with post-operative procedure?
3. What are the factors associated to patients satisfaction with the surgical procedure?

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