Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
surgery nurses tried to recruit patients that had an early operating
room time but were unable to complete all the data collection. The
ambulatory surgery nurses were more successful in recruiting
patients who were scheduled later in the day. On occasion, a
subject who had been recruited to the study required hospital
admission, and therefore was no longer eligible.
The ambulatory surgery nurses were responsible for phone contact
the evening of surgery, 24 and 48 hours after surgery. They
transferred responsibility to the graduate student research
assistants for the 72-hour call, who in turn contacted the faculty coinvestigator
for the one-week call (Table 1.). Communication by
email proved helpful for the transference of information from person
to person making the phone calls. Each nurse could inform the next
nurse of any problems identified, coaching offered and any special
concerns. For example, time and place to call the research subject.
A log kept in the Ambulatory Surgery Suite assured preservation of
data. However, the transfer from nurse to nurse was not always
successful especially when new research staff was added. This was
common with graduating students who had to be replaced. This
resulted in midweek drop out of research subjects.
In addition, some patients did not receive or misplaced the packet
that contained the instruments for the one-week follow up. In this
case it required more effort and time for the one-week interviewer
and the subject to collect the data. Amazingly most subjects were
most cooperative and did complete the data collection. A few of the
subjects could not be reached by repeated phone calls and the team
discussed how many times a subject should be called and what time
frame would keep the data reliable. Research staff meetings
continued throughout the length of the grant to identify and remedy
these and any other concerns. Telephone contact proved to be an
effective method for collecting data and delivering a coaching
intervention. The subjects expressed appreciation for the timing of
the contacts, especially early on in recovery.
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