Pre- and Postoperative Care for Bariatric Surgery Patients: The Impact of a Designed Reference Guide on Nurses'...

Bariatric surgery is a crucial intervention for the treatment of morbid obesity, necessitating that nursing staff possess a thorough understanding of expected outcomes to ensure successful patient care and promote healthier lifestyles. Recognizing this need, the present study aimed to develop and implement a reference guide tailored to nursing staff providing bariatric surgery care.

A quasi-experimental design was employed, utilizing a convenience sample of 78 nurses and 156 patients-comprising 78 participants before the administration of the reference guide and another 78 participants after its provision-from the general surgery units at Mansoura University Hospital. Four tools were employed for data collection: a sociodemographic datasheet, a knowledge questionnaire assessing nurses' understanding of care for bariatric surgery patients, a self-reported practice questionnaire, and a patients' satisfaction measurement tool. A reference guide for bariatric surgery care was constructed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted with adherence to all ethical considerations.

After implementing the reference guide, the percentage of nurses who exhibited good knowledge of bariatric surgery increased from 10.3% to 80.8%. Additionally, the proportion of nurses reporting poor self-reported practices related to necessary procedures decreased from 80.8% to 5.1%. Surprisingly, the improvement in knowledge and self-reported practices was sustained for a long time, though reduced. Furthermore, patient satisfaction levels showed a marked improvement following the intervention.

Implementing a reference guide significantly improved nurses' knowledge, self-reported practices, and patient satisfaction. To sustain these improvements, it is recommended that the reference guide be made available and educational programs be provided to nursing staff.