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PURPOSE Total joint arthroplasty is accompanied by significant costs. In nursing, patient education on financial issues is considered important. Our purpose was to examine the possible association between the arthroplasty patients' financial knowledge and their out-of-pocket costs. METHODS Descriptive correlational study in five European countries. Patient data were collected preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively, with structured, self-administered instruments, regarding their expected and received financial knowledge and out-of-pocket costs. FINDINGS There were 1,288 patients preoperatively, and 352 at 6 months. Patients' financial knowledge expectations were higher than knowledge received. Patients with high financial knowledge expectations and lack of fulfillment of these expectations had lowest costs. CONCLUSION There is need to establish programs for improving the financial knowledge of patients. Patients with fulfilled expectations reported higher costs and may have followed and reported their costs in a more precise way. In the future, this association needs multimethod research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives. To describe and compare the quality of recovery on discharge from hospital among patients undergoing elective hip or knee replacement. The study will also attempt to identify any predicting factors. Background. Arthroplasty is commonly used for an increasing population of patients with osteoarthritis, and the recovery process starts directly after surgery. Today's shorter hospital stay may be a challenge for the patients during the early period of recovery. It is therefore important to identify factors associated with quality of recovery at discharge from hospital. Design. A descriptive, comparative study including 12 hospitals in 5 European countries; Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Iceland and Sweden. Methods. Consecutively included patients responded on: health-related quality of life, and emotions before surgery and at hospital discharge; quality of recovery, patient satisfaction and fulfilment of knowledge expectations. Related factors and associations were analysed separately for each kind of arthroplasty. In total, 865 patients were included (hip n = 413, knee n = 452). Results. In the dimension of pain, patients undergoing hip replacement had significantly better quality of recovery compared to those undergoing knee replacement. Both patient groups experienced negative emotions before surgery that were related to poorer quality of recovery. Fulfilment of knowledge expectations has a limited effect on quality of recovery. Greater satisfaction with care predicted better quality of recovery. Conclusions. Negative preoperative emotions were related to poorer quality of recovery. For both kinds of arthroplasty, greater satisfaction with care was associated with better quality of recovery. Relevance to clinical practice. The result emphasises the need to detect patients in need of support in their preparation and recovery process, taking into account the perspective of their emotional state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similarities and differences across borders of Nordic countries constitute a suitable context for investigating and discussing factors related to the development of diabetes nursing research over the last three decades. The present study reviewed the entire body of contemporary diabetes nursing research literature originating in four Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Our aims were (i) to catalogue and characterise trends in research designs and research areas of these studies published over time and (ii) to describe how research involving nurses in Nordic countries has contributed to diabetes research overall. The larger goal of our analyses was to produce a comprehensive picture of this research in order to guide future studies in the field. We conducted a narrative literature review by systematically searching Medline, Medline in process, EMBASE, CINAHL, Psyc INFO and Cochrane databases. These searches were limited to studies published between 1979 and 2009 that had an abstract available in English or a Nordic language. Two researchers independently selected studies for analysis, leading to the inclusion of 164 relevant publications for analysis. In summary, Nordic nurse researchers have contributed to the development of new knowledge in self-management of diabetes in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and to some extent also in the treatment and care of diabetes foot ulcers. Future research may benefit from (i) larger nurse-led research programmes organised in networks in order to share knowledge and expertise across national groups and borders, (ii) more multidisciplinary collaborations in order to promote patient-centred care and (iii) further research directed towards improving the dissemination and implementation of research findings. Using complex intervention designs and a mix of research methods will enrich the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recovery process of arthroplasty patients, their family members play an important role due to short hospital stay and increased age of patients. Family members need to have knowledge to be able to support the patient. The aim of this study was to explore expected and received knowledge in family members of arthroplasty patients and describe the relationships between the differences in received and expected knowledge and background factors, country, information and control preferences and access to knowledge. The study was conducted in six European countries (Cyprus, Greece, Finland, Iceland, Spain and Sweden). The study design was cross-cultural, prospective and comparative with two measurement points: pre-operative and at discharge from hospital. Knowledge Expectations of significant other-scale and Krantz Health Opinion Survey were used before surgery and Received Knowledge of significant other-scale and Access to Knowledge at discharge. Patients undergoing elective hip or knee arthroplasty in seventeen hospitals were asked to identify one family member. The sample size was decided by power calculation. A total of 615 participants answered the questionnaires at both measurements. Family members perceived to receive less knowledge than they expected to have, most unfulfilled knowledge expectations were in the financial, social and experiential dimensions of knowledge. Seventy-four per cent of participants had unfulfilled knowledge expectations. Increased access to information from healthcare providers decreased the difference between received and expected knowledge. Compared to family members in southern Europe, those in the Nordic countries had more unfulfilled knowledge expectations and less access to information from healthcare providers. The evidence from this study highlights the need to involve the family members in the educational approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing population entails a growing international problem of osteoarthritis. Best practices for education of these patients are lacking. This study focused on empowering education in Northern ( Finland, Iceland, Lithuania and Sweden) and Southern Europe ( Cyprus, Greece and Spain). The aim was to analyse associations between expected knowledge and background factors. The data were collected from European arthroplasty patients with the Knowledge Expectations of hospital patients- scale, (KEhp- scale), including bio-physiological, functional, experiential, ethical, social and financial dimensions. Patients had essential bio-physiological and functional knowledge expectations. Women expected more than men, employed less than retired, unemployed or who worked at home. Generally, patients in Northern countries expected more than in Southern countries. However, highest expectations were found in Sweden and Greece, lowest in Spain and Cyprus. There are differences in knowledge expectations based on patients' backgrounds. Development of common standards in European patient education needs further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives To describe the possible differences between knowledge expectations and received knowledge of patients undergoing elective knee arthroplasty in Iceland, Sweden and Finland and also to determine the relationship between such a difference and both background factors and patient satisfaction with care. Background Knee arthroplasty is a fast-growing and a successful treatment for patients with osteoarthritis. Patient education can improve surgery outcomes, but it remains unknown what knowledge patients expect to receive and actually acquire during the perioperative period and what factors are related to that experience. Design Descriptive, prospective survey. Methods In total, 290 patients answered questionnaires about their expectations (Knowledge Expectations of hospital patients - scale) before surgery and about received knowledge (Received Knowledge of hospital patients - scale) and satisfaction with hospital care (Patient Satisfaction Scale) at discharge. Sociodemographics, clinical information, accessibility to knowledge from healthcare providers (Access to Knowledge Scale), and preferences for information and behavioural control (Krantz Health Opinion Survey) were collected as background data. Results Patients' knowledge expectations were higher (mean 3·6, SD 0·4) than their perception of received knowledge (mean 3·0, SD 0·7). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that access to knowledge, information preferences and work experience within health- or social care explained 33% ( R²) of the variation in the difference between received and expected knowledge. Patients reported high satisfaction with their care except regarding how their family was involved. Conclusion Patients undergoing knee arthroplasty receive less knowledge than they expect, and individual factors and communication with healthcare providers during hospitalisation are related to their experience. The content of patient education and family involvement should be considered in future care. Relevance to clinical practice The results strengthen the knowledge base on the educational needs of knee arthroplasty patients and can be used to develop and test new interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]