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Carrying out a preoperative assessment of geriatric patients is crucial to the outcomes of the surgery and the opportunities for further recovery (Kim, Brooks, & Groban, 2015). However, it is also important to bear in mind that geriatric patients are under the influence of a variety of negative factors and may need urgent surgery; therefore, time is of the essence (Oresanya, Lyons, & Finlayson, 2014). Herein lies the difficulty in choosing between the comparatively superficial yet fast Preoperative Screening and the in-depth Comprehensive Assessment (Partridge, Harari, Martin, & Dhesi, 2014). The evaluation of the tools efficacy may be based on quantitative analysis, a qualitative one, or a combination of both (i.e., a mixed approach). Although the identified frameworks have their limitations, each of them can be applied to define the most efficient tool for evaluating the needs of geriatric patients based on the goals of the assessment.
Qualitative Data
The information for the qualitative analysis can be gathered from interviews conducted with patients and nurses. As a result, a clear picture of the clinical issues by which the target population may be affected, as well as the efficacy of the available nursing management strategies, can be defined. Consequently, the data provided by nurses will shed some light on the needs of the geriatric patients and the areas that need assessment. Thus, the scope of the evaluation process will be defined, which, in turn, will determine the choice of either the Preoperative Screening or the Comprehensive Assessment. The interviews will have to be semi-structured so that the respondents could provide the information that will allow for the further classification and categorization of data, as well as its successful coding. As a result, the foundation for detecting primary tendencies in the target setting along with the factors that affect the chances for geriatric patients to recovery can be built successfully. Therefore, the application of interviews as the primary means of collecting qualitative information should be viewed as essential for determining the best testing tool (Elo et al., 2014).
Quantitative Data
To compare the efficacy of the tests applied to determine the health factors that may affect geriatric patients during or after the surgery, one will have collect qualitative data. Thus, the prerequisites for quantitative analysis can be created. The identified type of data, in its turn, can be located when considering the patients records and isolating the information related to various health indices (e.g., heart rate, mean arterial pressure, etc.), as well as their current health concerns. Apart from the identified information, the qualitative information allowing nurses to define the negative effects of comorbidities, and the associated issues will have to be taken into consideration.
For this purpose, reports and patients health records will have to be analyzed. The quantitative information related to the issues that may have an impact on them during or after the surgery will have to be incorporated into further analysis. Thus, the threat of side effects, diseases such as cardiovascular disorder (CVD), contraction of nosocomial infections, development of depression, etc., will be avoided successfully (Kim, Kim, Placide, Lipsitz, & Marcantonio, 2016).
Conclusion
Addressing the specific needs of geriatric patients in the OR environment, as well as after the surgery, is crucial to make sure that the target audience should not develop any nosocomial infections. Furthermore, a nurse must make sure that the environment of the OR and ER should not contain any factors that may jeopardize the patients well-being. Herein lies the significance of carrying out tests that will allow assessing the geriatric populations propensity to developing certain diseases or disorders. For this purpose, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data may be required for an all-embracing analysis. While qualitative information may be collected from semi-structured interviews, quantitative data will come from health records so that it could be used for further analysis (e.g., a t-test or ANOVA) (Sand-Jecklin & Sherman, 2014).
References
Elo, S., Kaariainen, M., Kanste, O., Polkki, T., Utriainen, K., & Kyngas, H. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: A focus on trustworthiness. SAGE Open, 1(1), 1-10. Web.
Kim, S., Brooks, A. K., & Groban, L. (2015). Preoperative assessment of the older surgical patient: honing in on geriatric syndromes. Journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging, 10(1), 13-17. Web.
Kim, D. H., Kim, C. A., Placide, S., Lipsitz, L. A., & Marcantonio, E. R. (2016). Preoperative frailty assessment and outcomes at 6 months or later in older adults undergoing cardiac surgical procedures. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165(9), 650-660. Web.
Oresanya, L. B., Lyons, W. L., & Finlayson, B. (2014). Preoperative assessment of the older patient: A narrative review. JAMA, 311(20), 2110-2120. Web.
Partridge, J. S. L., Harari, D., Martin, F. S., & Dhesi, J. K. (2014). The impact of pre-operative comprehensive geriatric assessment on postoperative outcomes in older patients undergoing scheduled surgery: A systematic review. Anaesthesia, 69(Suppl. 1), 8-16. Web.
Sand-Jecklin, K., & Sherman, J. (2014). A quantitative assessment of patient and nurse outcomes of bedside nursing report implementation. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 23(19/20), 28542863. Web.
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