IMPACT OF DEVELOPED STANDARDS OF CARE ON POST-OPERATIVE OUTCOMES IN CHILDREN WITH INGUINAL HERNIA AT ASSIUT CHILDREN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Abstract

Inguinal hernia is a common condition requiring surgical repair in the pediatric age group and it is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the world. The incidence of inguinal hernias is approximately 3% to 5% in term infants and 13% in pre-term infants. The standards give direction and provide guidelines for performance of nursing staff, provide a baseline for evaluating quality of nursing care, increase effectiveness of care and improve efficiency, determine the degree to which standards of nursing care must be maintained and take necessary corrective action in time. This study aimed to identify the impact of developing and implementing standards of care on post -operative outcomes in children with inguinal hernia.
Methods: A quasi experimental research design was conducted among 120 patients at Pediatric Surgery Unit -Assuit Children University Hospital. Children were allocated to either study or control group, sixty child for each group. Three tools were used, Tool one: Structured interview sheet to collect socio - demographic data, tool two: where designed to develop standards of care and implemented and tool three: Evaluation sheet to compare the effect of standards of care versus routine hospital care.
Results: Post-operative complications were highly significant in the control group than the study group. With the increases in age, the occurrence of inguinal hernia decreases.
Conclusion: This study showed that standards of care can significantly decrease post-operative complications and reduce length of hospital stay.
Recommendations: Considering the key role of nurses in a health care team, the researchers hope that the results of this study can help them to implement it in hospitalized children who undergo inguinal hernia surgery.