The Role of the Nurse and the Preoperative Assessment in Patient Transitions

TLDR

Transitions in perioperative care are numerous and high‑risk, with the preoperative area serving as the first and critical transition point for surgical patients. The study aims to delineate nurses’ contributions to perioperative care transitions and to clarify the role of the preoperative assessment in this process. A qualitative descriptive design was employed, involving focus groups with 24 nurses from a 975‑bed medical center. Focus groups revealed four themes—understanding patient vulnerabilities, multidimensional communication, managing expectations, and compensating for gaps—highlighting the nurse’s advocacy role in identifying patient needs and risk factors that influence the entire perioperative trajectory.

Abstract

Abstract Transitions in care in the perioperative environment are numerous and should be considered high‐risk endeavors. The preoperative area is the first transition in care for a surgical patient and should be considered a critical dimension of care transition. The purposes of this study were to identify nursing's contributions to transitions in care in the perioperative environment and to identify the role of the preoperative assessment in this transition. Qualitative descriptive design was used. Focus groups were conducted with 24 nurses in a 975‐bed medical center. The themes that arose in the focus groups were: (1) understanding patient vulnerabilities, (2) multidimensional communication, (3) managing patients’ expectations, and (4) nursing's role in compensating for gaps. We conclude that the nurse's role in the preoperative assessment during the transition of preoperative care is that of advocate who identifies the patient's needs and risk factors that may be affected by the surgical experience. This study suggests that the nursing preoperative assessment can be useful in identifying and defining patients’ risk factors not just for surgery, but for the entire perioperative care trajectory.