A comparison of structured versus guided preheart catheterization information on mood states and coping resources.

A rapid growth in outpatient surgical procedures has been necessary to help alleviate expensive health care costs. Because procedures, such as heart catheterization, require a short patient stay, preparatory information is often structured and delivered concisely. The purpose of this study was to determine if heart catheterization patients who receive guided precatheterization information had reduced stress compared with heart catheterization patients who received structured precatheterization information. Using a two-group pretest/posttest design, 89 subjects were randomly assigned to two different preparatory nursing interventions. Data were collected on outpatients' coping resources and mood states, which served as measures of stress. No significant differences in stress were found between the guided and structured preparatory information groups. The results indicated that a variety of approaches can be used to prepare patients for outpatient heart catheterization procedures.