Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) has produced a series of short videos with key advice for patients scheduled to have surgery to promote optimal recovery. Malnutrition, frailty, and cigarette smoking are all risk factors for poor postoperative outcomes, and the materials have been developed as a way to educate and empower patients to reduce these modifiable risk factors.
TUH CEO Lucy Nugent praised staff who came together from different disciplines in the hospital to produce the materials, saying: “The series, I believe is the first of its type in the country. I applaud the collective effort of so many disciplines coming together to produce a series that will benefit so many patients. They contain excellent advice on getting stronger and fitter, eating well, and preparing yourself mentally for surgery, it is a very worthwhile initiative with the patients’ welfare the top priority.”
The materials will be accessible from the Department of Surgery page on the hospital website, TUH’s YouTube channel, and with QR codes included in letters to patients about their scheduled surgery.
Patients attending the hospital for surgery said about the possibility of such a series:
- “Videos are a really good idea, everyone’s got a smartphone. I had to do my own online research.”
- “This is my first time in hospital – I didn’t know what to expect. Any information would have been good.”
- “People will watch videos – you could send them to your family too. I was very frightened about my surgery. Good advice takes the fear out of it.”
Funding for the initiative was made available via the HSE Spark Ignite Programme, which is supported by the National Quality Improvement Team, the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director, and the National Health and Social Care Professions Office.
