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This paper reports the results of a descriptive study of elderly subjects undergoing orthopaedic hip surgery under two qualitatively different events; planned surgery for hip replacement and unplanned emergency surgery following hip fracture. Its purpose was to describe sleep satisfaction, pain perceptions and psychological concerns of subjects undergoing similar procedures but having differential contexts for their experience and different outcomes. Delirium is a common phenomenon following orthopaedic hip surgery. The extent to which an individual's integrity is disrupted by psychological distress, pain and changes in sleep satisfaction as manifested by delirium was investigated. The results revealed that the context or nature of the experience strongly influences the perceptions of subjects despite their having undergone treatments of similar magnitude and their having received similar postoperative care. Pain was greater for unplanned surgery subjects and in particular for unplanned surgery subjects who succumbed to delirium. Sleep satisfaction was markedly poorer among subjects who experienced delirium. The findings are discussed with respect to nursing practice priorities and attitudes toward pain management.

This study aimed to understand what post-operative patients perceived was important about the nursing care they had experienced. The participants were nine women recovering from total hip replacement surgery which had been performed in a large public, acute care hospital in south Australia. Participants volunteered to be involved in the study and were interviewed pre- and post-operatively and interviews continued in their home environment following discharge. The study took place during 1995 within a 10-month time frame. Methodological guidance was sought from the phenomenology literature, with the ideas from Husserl and Heideggar providing shape for the interpretive framework. The analysis of data utilized Colaizzi's (1978) seven procedural steps. For the purposes of this paper the authors have selected to focus only on the findings of this study. Two major themes emerged from the conversations with women. Patients described nurses as being engaged or detached with their nursing care. These themes will be explicated in this paper. In the light of these dominant themes the nursing literature around engagement and detachment are examined. The implications for nursing practice are discussed.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of preparatory information on psychological coping outcomes among total hip replacement (THR) patients. A quasi-experimental design within an ethnographic clinical context was used. Eighty-two healthy individuals, scheduled for elective THR were recruited for the study and nonrandom selection techniques were used. The subjects in the experimental group were given procedural, sensory and coping information relating to the whole surgical procedure of a THR. In addition, written information was given to support the verbal information. Subjects in the control group received only the advice and support that would routinely be given to THR patients by ward, medical and nursing staff. The main outcomes were measured using standard questionnaires, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) measuring anxiety and depression, Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale measuring self-esteem, and Health Illness Questionnaire measuring sense of control. Lastly, a Linear Analogue Coping Scale was developed and applied to assess a subject's personal perception of coping with a THR. Providing information had positive effects on the psychological coping outcomes measured. Subjects in the experimental group had significantly less anxiety and depression with a high self-esteem and sense of control. The Linear Analogue Coping Scale demonstrated a strong correlation between how subjects believed they were coping and that measured using the standard questionnaires. The study concluded that preparatory information of various types and in different forms appears to have positive effects on psychological coping outcomes for THR patients, which may have influenced postoperative recovery.