Computer assisted instruction for preoperative and postoperative patient education in joint replacement surgery.

This article describes a comprehensive system for preoperative and postoperative patient education. The system offers a cost-effective method of instruction which encourages patient interaction and practice with decision making. The system was designed for patients undergoing total joint replacement surgery and includes two preoperative lessons, and a third lesson presented postoperatively at the bedside. The computer lessons were developed using data collected by a patient assessment instrument, and collaboratively with input from a nurse clinical specialist, orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, and computer programmer. In this project, several advantages for using computer assisted instruction for preoperative and postoperative patient education were identified.