Better equipping patients for surgery
The Surgical and Perioperative team at RBWH are always exploring innovative ways to improve the patient experience. One such initiative was the recent development of the My RBWH Surgical Pathway, a targeted educational resource to provide patients and their families with the knowledge and guidance to confidently navigate their surgical journey.
RBWH Clinical Nurse Consultant, Perioperative Access and Patient Flow, Cory Williams led the development of My RBWH Surgical Pathway.
The compendium is provided to all patients when added to a surgery waitlist and aims to provide a holistic view of health optimisation prior to surgery, insight as to what to expect throughout the surgical journey and peace-of-mind regarding the non-clinical aspects of surgery at RBWH such as travel subsidies and car parking options.
In addition, My RBWH Surgical Pathway was also developed as a method to decrease patient avoidable day-of-surgery (DOS) cancellations and operating room late start delays by ensuring patients have access to the information they require in physical form.
RBWH Clinical Nurse Consultant, Perioperative Access and Patient Flow, Cory Williams said that since the introduction of My RBWH Surgical Pathway, perioperative staff have indicated a noticeable decrease in patient-initiated concerns and knowledge deficits regarding surgical preparation requirements.
“From consulting with consumers about the project and from our own anecdotal experiences as clinicians, we know that patients preparing for surgery are presented with a lot of information,” Mr Williams said.
“We wanted to create an easy-to-understand resource that patients could take home with them, read in their own time and have the opportunity to ask any questions well ahead of their surgery.
“We recently conducted a waiting room survey of 100 RBWH surgical patients to evaluate the success of My RBWH Surgical Pathway and found that 85 per cent of patients surveyed found the information useful in their preparation for surgery, and 74 per cent of patients found that it helped reduce any anxiety/concerns they had about their upcoming surgery.
“The response from staff has also been overwhelmingly positive, with many stating they were pleased their perspectives were taken into consideration and proud to help lead the development of a ‘fit-for-purpose’ educational resource.”
The RBWH Surgical and Perioperative team have already released version two of My RBWH Surgical Pathway, and have also recently published an online version.