How well do patients comply with postoperative instructions following discharge from a day surgery unit?

Background Day surgery is a continuously evolving area of healthcare, with increasing improvements in surgical and anaesthetic techniques and management. However, increasing the number of procedures performed under this setting requires an increase in self care on the patients' behalf. This means that information provided by healthcare professionals needs to be comprehensive and delivered in the best possible manner. However, identification of non-compliance with such instructions by Tom Ogg (1972) and professional literature up until 2002 show that awareness of such advice could be an issue once the patient has returned home. Aims The aim of this proposed study is to ascertain whether patients adhere to the post-operative instructions provided to them following discharge from a day surgery unit. Methods This is a quantitative descriptive study and the design incorporated is that of a survey using self-administered questionnaires to collect data from participants. Stratified random sampling would be used to identify potential respondents from those patients who have had surgical procedures, performed under general anaesthetic in a day surgery unit in Central Scotland. Descriptive statistics would be used to analyse information and the data obtained would be used to identify any rate of non-compliance with postoperative instructions. Results from this study would be used to ascertain the need for further research into the area of non-compliance in day surgery units.bsc_Nurunpub1422_ethesesunpu