The Development of Post-Anesthesia Care Guidelines in the Recovery Room Sadao Hospital, Songkhla Province

Abstract

       This research and development project aims to study the problems and needs of nurse anesthetists, to develop care guidelines, and to evaluate the effectiveness of post-anesthesia patient care in the recovery room at Sadao Hospital, Songkhla Province. The study was conducted in three phases:  Phase 1 involved identifying problems and needs using qualitative methods and document analysis. Phase 2 focused on developing a model by drafting a care guideline for post-anesthesia patients in the recovery room. The guideline was reviewed and validated by 3 experts and 27 nurse anesthetists. Phase 3 assessed the effectiveness of the guideline using a quasi-experimental design with a one-group pretest-posttest model. The sample consisted of 3 nurse anesthetists and 27 patients who received anesthesia in the operating room. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the one-sample t-test. The research findings were as follows:

1. The problems identified among nurse anesthetists in caring for post-anesthesia patients included: a lack of clear care guidelines, insufficient communication and detailed patient care information, and cold temperatures in the operating room.
2. The developed guideline, known as the SAFETY Model, includes: 1) Signs and Symptoms Monitoring 2) Alertness and Pain Assessment 3) Follow-up for Complications 4)Equipment Verification 5) Transfer Planning 6) Yield Documentation
3. After implementation of the guideline: 100% of patients were fully alert. 96.3% experienced no complications from anesthesia. Pain scores significantly decreased before and after using the guideline (p < .001). Nausea and vomiting occurred in 3.7% of patients. Nurse anesthetists reported very high satisfaction with the guideline, with an average score of 4.99 (SD = 0.04).

       Therefore, developed post-anesthesia care guideline should be adopted in community hospitals with similar contexts, particularly in newly established major operating rooms lacking standardized care procedures, to ensure consistent and effective patient care.