Evidence-Based Practice of Early Post-Operative Mobilization for Whipple Surgery Patients' Selected Outcomes

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Menoufia University

2 Lecturer of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University

3 Lecturer of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Menoufia University

Abstract

Background: Early postoperative mobilization is an important aspect of postoperative care, as it
has been demonstrated to improve a range of patient-reported outcomes. Aim of the study: The
present study aims to evaluate the effect of evidence-based practice of early post-operative
mobilization for Whipple surgery patients' selected outcomes. Subjects and method: Design: A
quasi-experimental research design was used to achieve the purpose of the present study. Subjects:
convenience sample consists of 60 subjects who underwent Whipple surgery and were assigned
randomly into two equal groups (study and control), thirty patients in each group. Tools of data
collection: The researchers used four tools to achieve the study aim and collect the required data
as follows: Tool I: Structured interview. Tool II: Visual analog pain scale (VAS). Tool III: SixMinute Walking Test. Tool IV: Evaluation of the incidence of postoperative complications.
Results: There were statistically significant differences between the control and study groups on
the 6th day indicating that the study group had a higher mean distance walk than the control group
(14.4 + 2.4 & 3.8 + 0.6) respectively. The study group had lower mean pain scores than control
group ( 3.9 + 0.9 &4.7 + 1) respectively. Also, there were statistically significant differences
between the control and study groups in relation to occurrence of falls during the 2nd week
(X2=4.320, p-value=0.038). Conclusion: the impact of implementing evidence-based mobilization
on patient care outcomes corroborates those documented in scholarly works. Recommendation:
post-operative Whipple surgery early mobilization according to the patient individual abilities and
hemodynamic stabilization should started to be done by surgical nurses for improving patients’
outcomes as falls, distance patient able to walk as well as pain