Editorial AUGUST 2003, VOL 78, NO 2

E D I T O R I A L

Peace of mind

A bout a year ago, a nurse friend (whom I will call Daisy for this story) under- went a major surgical pro- cedure. As nurses do, she

enlisted support and information from her nurse friends. It was a surgical pro- cedure, so she called me. I gave her my opinion of several surgeons I thought were excellent for her procedure, one of whom had been suggested by her primary care physician. She then asked if I knew anyone in the OR where she was scheduled for the procedure. I told her I would call an AORN friend at that location and alert her that Daisy was coming because she was facing a surgery that would affect the rest of her life. Although Daisy had been in health care her entire career, this was happening to her as a person, and she was apprehensive about the impend- ing surgery.

informed her about the situation, and shared some other information Daisy said I could share to help them plan her surgery. The OR director assured me that my friend would have the best of care, and I did not doubt it for a minute. The surgery went well, and my friend had an uneventful recovery. I promptly forgot about the episode.

I called my contact in the OR,

THE AFERMATH A few days ago, and a year after her

surgery, Daisy appeared in my office. We talked for awhile, and then she said she wanted to thank me for giving her peace of mind when she had her sur- gery. She went on to tell me that I would never know how much that meant to her and how wonderful the nurses in the OR had been. She said that a nurse’s perspective is totally changed when he or she becomes the patient. The perioperative nurses car-

ing for Daisy were professional, car- ing, and compassionate.

The irony of this was that Daisy is not a perioperative nurse, and for years, we had had an ongoing debate about the necessity of having RNs in the OR. Her past opinion was that professional nursing was not done in the OR, and if RNs were there, they quickly became technicians. After her experience, however, she completely changed her mind. She apologized to me for the years during which she told nursing students not to choose periop- erative nursing as a career, because she now knows that Drofessional nurses are essential in &e OR.

As a patient, she cher- ished the peace of mind that came from knowing an RN was in the room with her at all times, pro- tecting her, and coordi- nating her care. It was the little things Daisy remembered the most. She assumed, as all patients do, that every- one in the room was competent. What she needed at the time was recognition that she still was a person and a human being under that thin sheet. The things she appreciated were

Nancy J. Qrard. RN

Her opinion was that professional nursing was not done in the OR, and if RNs were

there, they quickly became

technicians.

people making eye contact with her- really looking at her when they talked to her. She liked the calm touch on her shoulder, the application of a warm blanket without having to ask for it, and that someone made sure her feet were covered because that was the coldest part of her. She also appreciat- ed the continual gentleness and the message that she never would be alone. This all was done by wonderful

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AUGUST 2003, VOL 78, NO 2 Editorial

perioperative nurses, and this is what gave Daisy peace of mind. In her stressed condi- tion, she reasoned that if the lit- tle things were being attended to, then surely the big things would be done correctly.

REMEMBERING THE LITTLE THINGS We as perioperative nurses

go from day to day, making sure we are competent and skilled in the technology needed. We sometimes forget these little things and get caught up in preparations. Perhaps Daisy got exception- al care because I called the hospital, because she was a nurse, or simply because the perioperative nurses at that

location are great with every patient. I prefer to think it was the latter and that they always give quality care. Perioperative nurses are important to the patient. They do give professional nursing care. Most impor- tantly, they give assurance to their patients daily, and that should be an unwritten goal. Tell your patients today that you are their nurse and you will take care of them, so they too can have peace of mind about their surgical procedure. 4

NANCY J. GIRARD RN, PHD, FAAN

EDITOR

CORRECnONS

JULY 2003, VOL 78 NO 1, page 69. The expiration date for the Home Study ”Incident Reports-Their purpose and scope,’’ should be July 31, 2006. The Journal regrets any confusion this may have caused.

JULY 2003, VOL 78 NO 1, page 130. In the “Clinical Issues” column, references numbered 15 in the text actu- ally should be referenced to note number 14. The h a l two references on page 130, which are referenced to note number 14 should be referenced to note number 13.

Many Believe Internet Health Sites Need Improvement pproximately 41 million US adults want more from Internet health resources, according to a

May 27, 2003, news release from Manhattan Research, LLC. Among the findings of a study about consumers’ perceptions of online resources are that 0 65% believe the accuracy of health information

needs to increase, and 55% believe the same about pharmaceutical information;

0 64% believe the quality of health information needs improvement, and 56% believe the same about pharmaceutical information;

0 22% have difficulty reading or understanding health information, and 27% have difficulty reading or understanding pharmaceutical infor- mation; and

0 51% have difficulty determining whether infor- mation i s credible.

Participants also were asked what traits they

reviewed by medical professionals i s somewhat or very important i n determining their trust of the online source,

0 80% report that the clear distinction of health and medical information from sponsor advertis- ing i s very important,

0 70% believe timely, updated information is a motivator t o switch to or start using a health information resource, and

0 67% percent likely would switch to a site with content written i n an easy-to-understand style.

This study was conducted i n the fourth quarter of 2002 with 3,003 online consumers representative of US adults who use the Internet.

Study: Americans Expect More of Their Online Health Information Resources (news release, New York: Manhattan Research, LLC, May 27, 2003) http://www .manhattanresearch.com/Credibili~~/020Accuracy,%20an d0/o20Readability%20(052703).pdf (accessed 1 June 2003).

A

desired i n online health information sources. Results indicated that 0 81% of respondents believe information

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