High-quality nursing can reduce the incidence of adverse events in esophageal cancer patients after operation in the intensive care unit and improve postoperative rehabilitation

Abstract

Objective: This research aimed at observing the effect of applying high-quality nursing in the intensive care unit (ICU) to esophageal cancer (EC) patients after radical resection.

Methods: From January 2015 to February 2020, 155 EC patients who underwent radical resection were divided into the control group (CG; n=77) and the observation group (OG; n=78). The CG was given conventional nursing intervention, and the OG was given high-quality nursing intervention. The scores of the visual analogue scale (VAS), clinical related indexes, complications, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), nursing satisfaction and SF-36 of patients were compared.

Results: After nursing, compared with the CG, the duration of the indwelling drainage tube, time to getting out of bed, recovery of bowel sounds and hospitalization in the OG was shorter, and the incidence of postoperative complications was less. In addition, after nursing, the VAS, SAS and SDS scores of patients in both groups decreased, and these indexes in the OG decreased more than those in the CG. Patients were investigated upon discharge, and it was revealed that the nursing satisfaction of patients in the OG was obviously better than that in the CG. Three months after the operation, the scores of general health (GH), mental health (MH), role-physical (RP), role emotional (RE) and vitality (VT) of patients in the OG were higher than those in the CG.

Conclusion: High-quality nursing exerts a better effect in the ICU for patients who underwent EC surgery; it can reduce pain and adverse events and promote rehabilitation.

Keywords: Esophageal cancer; high-quality nursing; intensive care unit; operation.

Figure 1

VAS score changes of two groups before and after nursing. After nursing, the VAS scores of patients in the two groups decrease, and the scores in the OG decrease more than those in the CG. *P < 0.05.

Figure 2

Clinical related indexes of two groups of patients. After nursing, the time of the indwelling drainage tube (A), time to getting out of bed (B), time to recovery of bowel sounds (C) and hospitalization time (D) in the OG are shorter than those in the CG. *P < 0.05.

Figure 3

Scores of SAS and SDS before and after nursing in both groups. After nursing, the SAS (A) and SDS (B) scale scores of patients in the two groups reduce, especially in the OG. *P < 0.05.

Figure 4

Comparison of scores of SF-36 between both groups. There is no marked difference in the scores of GH (A), MH (B), SF (C), PF (D), RP (E), RE (F), BP (G) and VT (H) between the two groups before operation. After 3 months of operation, the scores of GH, MH, RP, RE, BP and VT were improved, and those of SF and PF in the OG were also improved. In addition, the scores of GH, MH, RP, RE, BP and VT in the OG were higher than those in the CG. Note: ^nsP > 0.05, *P < 0.05.