The effect of nursing counseling on anxiety and patient satisfaction of candidates for abdominal hysterectomy surgery

Anxiety is the most common psychological response of hospitalized patients. One of these techniques is nursing counseling and providing the patient with the necessary information about the procedure. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nursing counseling on anxiety and patient satisfaction of candidates for abdominal hysterectomy surgery.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 60 patients who were candidates for abdominal hysterectomy. The intervention group, in addition to receiving the usual hospital care in the control group, received a special preoperative nursing counseling program designed by the anesthesia nurse.The data collection tools was demographic and clinical form, visual anxiety scales and surgery satisfaction questioner. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 16.

Based on the results, the mean score of anxiety at the entrance to the operating room was in the intervention group (3.17±1.36) and control group (4.37±1.86). The mean score of anxiety before induction of anesthesia in the intervention group (2.7±1.53) and control group (3.57±0.97) which was shown a significant difference in each group (P=0.01). Also, the mean score of satisfaction between the intervention group (2.97± 0.61) and control (17.37± 0.53) that showed a significant difference (P=0.0001).

Considering that, preoperative nursing counseling was effective in reducing anxiety and increasing the satisfaction of patient’s candidates for abdominal hysterectomy. It is recommended that preoperative counseling be performed in the care program of all patients undergoing surgery and other invasive procedures.