Impact of Acceptance-Based Nursing Intervention on Postsurgical Recovery: Preliminary Findings

Research has shown that teaching individuals to experience pain and anxiety as inevitable products of the actions they freely and responsibly undertake yields healthier reactions to suffering. This preliminary study assesses whether a brief acceptance-based psychological intervention along with the usual presurgical protocol for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy will produce healthier reactions to postsurgical pain, and will reduce anxiety, duration of postsurgical hospitalization, and demand of analgesics. After admission, screening, and consent procedures, we assessed pain and anxiety. Patients in the experimental condition (n = 6) then received a brief acceptance-based nursing intervention addressing the individual meaning of surgery, and including a metaphor and defusion practice, along with routine care. Patients in the control condition (n = 7) received routine care only. Twenty-four hr following the intervention, surgery took place. Pain, anxiety, and patients' demand for analgesics were assessed 24 hr or 48 hr after surgery. All six experimental patients, as compared to three of seven control patients, demanded fewer analgesics and left the hospital within 24 hr or 48 hr from surgery even in the presence of frequent and/or intense pain. Anxiety slightly decreased in the experimental patients. The brief acceptance-based intervention was effective in improving postsurgical recovery. These preliminary findings support the potential of this type of intervention as a cost-effective strategy to be implemented in the sanitary context.