Patient and staff (doctors and nurses) experiences of abdominal hysterectomy in accelerated recovery programme - A qualitative study

Introduction: The accelerated recovery programme (ARP) is becoming commonplace in surgical specialties and has also been introduced to hysterectomy patients. Diagnostic, prognostic and other clinical indicators are well described. The aim of this article is to relay knowledge about the ARP, through the experiences of the women operated and the staff involved. Material and methods: The study is exploratory and descriptive, using qualitative methods. Seventeen women, with good health status, were consecutively selected from August to September 2001. The women were observed and ten were interviewed twice, at discharge and one month following their return home. The staff (n = 15) were interviewed individually and/or participated in focus group interviews before (February 2001) and following (November 2001) the introduction of the ARP. Results: The women experienced little difficulty with the ARP. They defined themselves as being good girls but expressed that when the hospital's ARP had expired the attention from the staff declined. The staff continued to be concerned about whether the women received the information and psychological care they needed but claimed that the ARP proved better for the women than they had expected. Conclusion: The ARP did not appear to be a burden for the women involved in the study; however, it did not consider individual needs for psychological care. Future efforts should ensure a thorough introduction of the ARP to new staff as well as illustrative material for purposes of information relay and dialogue between staff and patients/family members. A nursing care ambulatory unit is recommended to support with information for women prior to and following hysterectomy in the ARP.