Road to Recovery for Craniotomy patients

Author

Louisa UstrzynskiFollow

Date of Award

Fall 12-15-2023

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Laurie Hopper

Project Team Faculty Member

Chaya Gopalan

Keywords

Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS), craniotomy, neurosurgical disorders, patient education, preoperative phase, intraoperative phase, postoperative phase

Abstract

Complications from craniotomy surgery can range from 8-33%, leading to prolonged hospital stays, increased costs, increased risks for complications, and decreased satisfaction. An extensive literature was conducted highlighting Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol enhances patient outcomes by emphasizing education, early mobilization, pain management, and proper medication use before surgery. This quality improvement project focused on implementing preoperative and postoperative education in a tertiary hospital outpatient setting targeting adults undergoing craniotomy surgery. The process was implemented by a preoperative checklist and education materials to aid in educating patients on ERAS protocol to decrease the length of stay and increase patient education on their recovery. The 20 patients who were given the preoperative ERAS education pamphlets were also given an evaluation of the pamphlet, indicating an average score of greater than 90% were satisfied and indicated that the education aided in their recovery. Results found that the previous length of stay averaged 3.6 days before implementation, and recent results of 2.8 days were based on metrics obtained from the Epic system. The limitations acknowledged included a small sample size and short implementation and retrieval of information. However, the results indicated an overall decrease in length of stay and satisfactory results indicating that patient education helped aid their recovery. The project discusses the critical role of ERAS principles in patient education to help reduce hospital stays and improve patient satisfaction.

Recommended Citation

Ustrzynski, Louisa, "Road to Recovery for Craniotomy patients" (2023). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 296.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/296

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