Evaluation of the Opinions of Surgery Patients on Perioperative Privacy.

PURPOSE

To evaluate surgical patients' perceptions of perioperative privacy.

DESIGN

A descriptive and cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A total of 172 patients who underwent surgical intervention at a state hospital were included. A Patient Information Form and the Perioperative Privacy Scale (PPS) were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods, Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test.

FINDINGS

With a mean age of 56.81 ± 1.29 years, 56.4% of the patients were male. Over half of all patients (51.7%) were familiar with the concept of patient privacy, and the vast majority (94.2%) felt that their privacy was protected by the health care staff during their hospital stay. The mean PPS score was 74.38 ± 10.44. A statistically significant difference was found between the patients' marital status, education level, health insurance, attention to privacy by health personnel, and the mean scores of the PPS (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The research found that patients who underwent surgery felt that their privacy was well-protected during the perioperative period. To maintain patient privacy during this process, surgical nurses should continue their current practices and emphasize the importance of the subject in in-service training programs.