Impact of Narrative Nursing on Stigma and Psychological Crisis for Patients With Orthopedic Amputations.

CONTEXT

Amputation results in large wounds and in mobility disorders for patients, easily leading to social difficulties and affecting patients' psychological recovery. In recent years, some clinicians have used narrative nursing to intervene in the effects of stigma for patients with diseases other than amputations and have achieved good effects.

OBJECTIVE

The study intended to examine the impact of narrative nursing on amputation patients' feelings of stigma and on their resulting psychological crises.

DESIGN

The research team conducted a randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

The study occurred at the Affiliated Huaian No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in Huai'an, China.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were 75 patients who underwent lower-limb amputations at the hospital between November 2021 and May 2023.

INTERVENTIONS

The research team randomly divided participants into two groups: (1) the control group with 38 participants, who received conventional nursing, and (2) the intervention group, with 37 participants, who received a narrative nursing intervention in addition to conventional nursing.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The research team measured: (1) stigma, using the Stigma Impact Scale (SIS); (2) anxiety and depression, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and (3) nursing satisfaction. The team also examined the correlation between participants' stigma scores and anxiety and depression scores.

RESULTS

Postintervention compared to the control group, the intervention group's: (1) SIS scores were significantly lower (P < .001); (2) anxiety and depression scores were significantly lower (both P < .001); (3) total nursing satisfaction rate was significantly higher (P = .011). The correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between the SIS and the HADS scores (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Narrative nursing can improve the psychological states of amputees, mitigate their feelings of stigma, and elevate their nursing satisfaction, and it's worthy of clinical use.