Pre-admission education for patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Traditionally, preoperative information has been provided to patients on admission, the day before surgery. This was thought not to be the ideal time. An exploratory pilot study was undertaken to evaluate a new information service for patients about to undergo cardiac surgery. Questionnaires were administered to 20 patients who had attended a pre-admission education programme and 20 patients who had received information from the ward staff on admission. The aim was to assess whether patients fears and anxieties were reduced by the provision or pre-operative information before admission for surgery. One hundred percent of the patients felt that they benefited from the pre-admission programme and 76% felt that their anxieties had been relieved.