Effect of Preoperative Nursing Protocol on Pain and Daily Activities for Post Inguinal Hernia Repair Patients

Background: Pain is the most serious long-term complication occurring after inguinal hernia repair with negative effects on all daily activities. As teaching is considered an important part of nursing care, interventions aimed to reduce pain and improving daily activities following surgical inguinal hernia repair are critically needed. Aim of the study: Toinvestigate the effect of Preoperative nursing protocol on reducing pain and improving daily activities post inguinal hernia repair. Methodology: Research design: Quasi-experimental research design was utilized in the present study. Sample: A purposive sample of (60) male patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair surgery. Setting: The study was carried out at the general surgical unit of Qena University Hospital, Qena governorate, Egypt. Tools of data collection: Three tools were utilized to collect data, First Tool: Structured questionnaire covered 3 parts: First part: Demographic data of the patients. Second part: Medical profile of the patients. Third part: Included knowledge assessment sheet about inguinal hernia disease, pain-relieving strategies and, how to prevent inguinal hernia recurrence. Second Tool: Pain numerical rating scale. Third Tool: Physical self-maintenance scale (Activities of daily living). Study Duration: Data collection of this study was carried out through six months, from the beginning of December 2019 till the end of May 2020. Results: our results revealed that ages among the study and the control groups ranged between (51 to 60 years), with a mean age (51.7±9.42 years and 55.4±6.21 years) respectively. Also, the study group demonstrated low level of pain as compared to control group after application of nursing interventions with a statistical significant difference between the mean score of pain level among the study and the control groups whereas the 1st follow-up was (2.03±0.66 & 0.16±0.37) respectively, at the 2nd follow-up was (5.83±0.46 & 3.57±0.50) respectively, and at the 3rd follow-up was (5.97±0.183 & 5.53±0.507) respectively, moreover the mean score of daily living activities of the study group improved versus the control group with a statistical significant difference in which the 1st follow-up was (1.93+.691 & 0.23+0.43) respectively, at the 2nd follow-up was (5.33+0.661 & 3.6+0.563) respectively, and at the 3rd follow-up was (5.93+0.2454 & 5.53+0.507) respectively. Conclusion: application of preoperative nursing protocol reflected a significant effect on patient's outcomes among the study group as postoperative pain level declined and level of activities increased as compared to the control group. Recommendations: Educational classes with a guide booklet should be provided at regular intervals for patients undergoing hernia repair, and replication of the current study on a larger probability sample from different geographical areas to achieve generalizable results are recommended.