7 Tips for healthcare professionals on how they can prepare a patient for the surgery

The job of a healthcare professional is not easy. You meet dozens of new people in your life every day, and they are different than others. Sometimes it happens that a particular patient is not ready for further treatment which is surgery.

Surgery is something that every patient is worried about, some less, some more. Your role becomes pivotal in assuring that they are in safe hands at their most vulnerable conditions.

Good pre-operative care increases the patient’s experience by minimising anxiety and encouraging recovery. Improving pre-operative treatment is one of three main components of the enhanced Rehabilitation programme that helps to increase outcomes and speed up recovery.

If the patient asks you something which is not your area expertise, you should not misguide your patient with the wrong information. It is always better to send them to the right person for that particular thing.

Here are some tips on how you can prepare a patient for going to surgery;

Explain the health condition to them: As a healthcare professional, you need to explain the condition in detail to the patient. Many patients are even scared of a ‘root canal’.

You must educate the patient with relevant information, so that they can understand why the treatment/surgery is required and what harm it may cause if they do not proceed further.

Give them time to reconsider their options: You should not ‘rush’ to take them to the operation theatre if the situation is not an emergency. A patient may have different questions in their mind related to the surgery.

You should patiently listen to those and answer as much as you can. Your confidence will boost their morale. By giving them time to reconsider their options, make them more likely to agree. It will also help to establish an excellent patient-doctor bond.

Help them get over their anxiety: Preparing a patient for surgery requires a lot of psychological efforts. It is very typical for the patient to get worried by thinking about the complications of the surgery. As a healthcare professional, you should always try to calm their nerves whenever necessary. Assuring them that they are in the right hands will help reduce their anxiety.

There will be credentials that the practice and the surgeon must have directly earned, so inform them they’re in the best possible practice to perform their operation. It can also be helpful to educate the patients about the expertise the team has when it comes to surgical procedures.

Help them avoid catastrophic thinking: Some individuals dwell on worst-case circumstances. This arises when the probability of something negative occurring is overestimated or our ability to deal with it is underestimated. As a healthcare professional, you should help them avoid catastrophic thinking. Because always negative thoughts can, in other ways, weaken the stability and be detrimental to the physical and mental health of a person.

Guide them what to do and not to do: Apart from the psychological thing, the time before surgery is also crucial health-wise. Make your patient a checklist of what to do, to eat and what not to do before the surgery.

Assure them with recovery support after surgery: The post-surgery period is also crucial for a patient. As a healthcare worker, your duty doesn’t end just after the surgery. You should provide a detailed post-operative treatment plan for recovery to the patient before surgery. This will assure them, and it will be easier for you to convince them.

Involving the family of the patient: Involving the family of the patient is also an essential step. Families tend to get worried, along with the patient as well. So, it is essential to calm their nerves as the patient will be surrounded by their near and dear ones.

The encouragement that patients can receive from their family members can be just as valuable as the advice they receive from medical professionals, especially in most cases when the patient wants to stay at home to support their recovery.

The healthcare industry in Australia is quite stringent as it requires a lot of attention. There is hardly a scope of mistake in this profession. Hence, a person needs to cross a lot of hurdles before working in this sector.

Apart from the educational qualification, another primary requirement to work here is a regular background screening including National Police Check. It ensures that the person has no criminal background, and the patients are in safe hands. You can obtain your Police Check for healthcare worker from KONCHECK, an accredited site of ACIC.