Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Nursing - Department of Surgical Nursing

Discharge needs are known to be common problems for patients after total hip arthroplasty (THA) due to surgical and technological developments of arthroplasty, treatment procedures, and reducing the duration of hospitalization. Hence, nurses play an important role in assessment of discharge needs of patients following THA. The aim of the study was to determine discharge needs of patients after total hip arthroplasty. A convenient sample of all male and female patients scheduled to undergo THA, above 50 years, performing the surgery for the first time, have hip osteoarthritis constituted the study sample. Data was collected using the following tools: (a) Demographic and Medical Background Information Form, and (b) Arthroplasty Discharge Needs Assessment Tool (ADNA). The study findings revealed that, the majority of sample aged between 51 to 70 years with a mean of 60.6±6.7. Moreover, the majority of participants were females and married with a percentage of 58.3% and 86.7% respectively. Before discharge and two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, all the participants had unsatisfactory scores in almost all categories of ADNA with the exception of home setup category which revealed to have satisfactory scores two weeks after being discharged from the hospital. Consequently the overall ADNA scores show unsatisfactory level. The study concluded that, THA patients had unmet needs before discharge and two weeks after being discharged from the hospital. Significant implication involves the need for further collaboration between health care providers and patients related to the kind and amount of information needed by hip arthroplasty patients especially after being discharged from hospital. The study recommended that, longitudinal study should be designed to determine the long term needs for this group of patients over a long period of time

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