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
1. Significantly higher clear Focus, Perspective Focus and Method
subscale scores of the CAPS.
2. Significantly lower Internal Diffuse and Fixed Focus subscale
scores of the CAPS and a
3. Significantly lower POMS total score.
The CAPS and POMS were administered in person preoperatively
and by phone one week later. The 48 item length of the CAPS and
the 30 item length of the POMS plus the repetition of content in the
subsequent SF-36 led to the earlier described revision of subject
recruitment timing and to the need for one-week phone callers to
encourage and even cajole subjects to complete the responses.
With support, most subjects did complete responses to all
instruments.
There was one between subjects factor with two levels (Nurse-
Coached Intervention group and Usual Practice group), three withinsubjects
factors (two subscales of the CAPS and the total POMS
score) each of which had two levels: preoperative and one-week
post operative. The data analysis thus far supports the hypothesis.
The second hypothesis was divided into two parts to address the
study aim of relieving symptom distress. This hypothesis stated
that the patients who received the telephone-mediated Nurse-
Coached Intervention (NCI), when compared to a Usual Practice
(UP) Group, will have:
1. Significantly lower Symptom Distress scores at 72 hours post
surgery and at one-week post surgery.
2. Symptom Distress scores that will significantly differ across the
three time periods: Baseline (preoperatively), 72 hours and one-
week post surgery.
What might be perceived as a problem in administering this scale
was the pertinence of each symptom to this particular population.
Analysis of responses that is in progress will be a contribution to
ability to recommend this instrument for populations other than the
patients with cancer for whom the tool was developed.
There was one between subjects factor with two levels (Nurse –
Coached Intervention and Usual Practice group); one within
subjects factor (Symptom Distress Total Score) with three levels:
preoperative, 72 hours and one-week postoperative. Data analysis
is in progress.
Finally, the aim of the study to improve overall functional health
status was expressed in Hypothesis 3. This hypothesis stated that
at one- week post surgery, patients who received the telephone-
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