The Effect of Different Training Methods On Discharge

With the shortening of the length of hospital stay after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, patients can be discharged by taking on complex responsibilities before the healing process is completed and before their perception of self-efficacy increases. Today, in the discharge training traditionally given with oral or written materials after surgery, the subjects that are generally considered important are selected, which may lead to not addressing the specific needs of individuals. In addition, inconsistencies may occur due to the trainer, too much written information that is beyond the knowledge level of the patients, frequent forgetting or incorrect remembering of the information given, and the incompatibility between the time planned by the nurse for the training and the time the patient feels ready. In one study, it was reported that 55.3% of the nurses did not provide patient education, education was in the seventh place in their daily work routines, and the reasons for not training the patients were their excessive workload and inability to use time effectively. For this reason, traditional patient education methods have begun to be replaced by technological methods. Mobile applications create opportunities for patients to participate in their own care during their hospital stay in the remaining time spent on examinations and treatments. It has been reported that video interventions are extremely effective, especially in populations with low literacy rates, and longer-term information transfer can be achieved by leaving tablets used for educational purposes in the patient room.

CABG surgery is most needed during middle and advanced ages. However, it is generally known that elderly individuals are mostly not familiar with recent mobile technologies. In Turkey, no research has been found on whether this patient group is suitable for using mobile technologies, the effectiveness of tablets in providing information to inpatients, the extent to which patients are interested and engaged with the application, the effectiveness of the application to bring the patient to a readiness state for discharge, the effect of the application on the perception of self-efficacy, and how it affects the state of satisfaction. Some authors also state that well-designed and reported studies are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of mobile phone or tablet-based applications in the management of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease).

Inclusion criteria

• Being literate
• Understanding and speaking the Turkish language
• Having undergone a planned open-heart surgery for the first time.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who received psychiatric diagnosis
• Who were unable to use the tablet and mobile application after explanations
• Who had postoperative hospitalization for more than 10 days
• Who had a development of disorientation in the postoperative service
• Who had a valve surgery added to their CABG surgery during the operation were excluded from the research.