It is the intention of this assignment to explore the nurse's role in maximising health in patients undergoing day case cataract surgery by providing them with information and educating about the surgery to reduce any fears and anxiety about the procedure.
My placement area is an ophthalmic ward as it is a day case ward for elective eye surgery I am limited in the choice of client groups as patient contact time is limited to a few hours at most after which they are referred to out patients where we don't see them. So I have decided to focus upon the pre-operative assessment of cataract patients because this comprises of a large proportion of the workload in my placement area. This is supported by "Vafidis (1998)" who maintains that cataract surgery comprises of up to 75% of the operating workload in ophthalmic units.
I intend to discuss ways of maximising health by looking at the effects of anxiety upon the patient's ability to listen and assimilate information given during the pre-operative assessment. Ways in which patient anxiety and stress can be reduced will be focused upon. The ophthalmic nurses' skill and specialist knowledge will be recognised in preparing the ophthalmic patient for their operation and the giving of a clear explanation of the procedure and post-operative care of the eye.
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