The immediate and short-term effects of an educational program for post radical hysterectomy self-care of the lower urinary tract.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer has recently become one of the major malignancies of women in Taiwan. Patients receive radical hysterectomy as a first step in treatment. Urinary tract infection is a potential complication after surgery. To enhance the knowledge and Foley catheter self-care ability are major tasks that patients need to learn during hospitalization. Therefore, the impact of an educational program is evaluated. METHOD: A post-test only design with nonequivalent groups was selected to conduct the present study. Patients who had radical hysterectomy were distributed into an experimental group (N = 11; taught by the head nurse with extra written material) and a control group (N = 9; taught by nurses in sequence). Knowledge level, home performance, and laboratory data (urinalysis and urine culture) were selected as indicators for evaluation. Non-parametric statistics such as Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed to verify the impact of this educational program. RESULTS: In regard to the immediate effects, the experimental group reported a higher level of knowledge than the control group during the first assessment. However, after clarification by the head nurse in a discharge interview, this difference disappeared in the second assessment 2 weeks later (short-term effects). Nevertheless, no significant difference was found either in the performance at home, urinalysis, or urine culture. CONCLUSION: Different position of the nurses and additional written material had an impact on the knowledge level of patients. However, no significant differences were found within the subjective and objective indicators.