Application of Preoperative Visits during the Perioperative Period of Ophthalmic Surgery.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of preoperative visits on patients' psychology, physiology, and behavior during the perioperative period of eye surgery under local anesthesia, with the aim of enhancing patients' cooperation with the surgery and improving their degree of satisfaction. METHODS A total of 240 patients scheduled to undergo eye surgery between August and October 2013 were randomly divided into an observation (n = 120) and a control (n = 120) group. Patients in the observation group attended preoperative visits with nurses and received conventional nursing care. The control group received only conventional nursing. RESULTS The Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) scores were significantly lower in patients from the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). Surgeons operating on the observation group were more satisfied with their patients' cooperation with the surgery than were surgeons operating on the controls (P < 0.01). Patients in the observation group had a significantly higher degree of satisfaction in terms of work efficiency in the operating room (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Preoperative visits by patients scheduled to undergo eye surgery can effectively mitigate preoperative anxiety in those patients, build up a positive attitude toward the upcoming surgery, instruct the patients to coordinate with the surgery, enhance surgical safety, and improve the patients' degree of satisfaction regarding the nursing care in the operating room.