Nurse Anesthetists' Communication in Brief Preoperative Meeting With Orthopaedic Patients-An Interview Study.
PURPOSE To explore the experience of preoperative communication of nurse anesthetists (NAs) in brief meetings with patients in an orthopaedic setting. DESIGN Qualitative research. METHODS Three group interviews based on experiences of 18 NAs were conducted. Content data analysis was used. FINDINGS The brief communication was characterized by both difficulties and opportunities. Protecting the patient's integrity, informing worried patients, lack of routines, language difficulties, being present at the meeting, protecting the patient from disturbance, and encouraging the patient to participate were stated as the main challenges in the brief meeting with patients. The NAs also gave some suggestions for improvement. CONCLUSIONS The Preoperative meetings need to be developed and structured to improve communication. A way to assess the results of this conversation should be developed. Other recommendations include finding a way to improve patient involvement in this dialogue and development of skills of NAs to enhance the meeting for patients.