Post-Discharge learning needs of General Surgery patients

Objective: to determine whether the post discharge information needs of general surgical patients were fulfilled according to the patient learning needs scale (plns). methodology: this cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted on patients in general surgery department of a university medical center in malatya, turkey. the sample included 90 patients. data were accumulated using by patient information form and plns, between january-february, 2010. results: the plns mean total score of patients was 196.99±36.14 with an importance level of 3.94 were found to be very important for patients learning needs. before discharge, 50% of patients did not have sufficient information about their discharge. physicians supplied 43.3% of discharge information whereas nurses supplied 15.6% of such information. female patients’ mean total score was statistically significantly higher than that of male patients (p < 0.05). conclusions: results of this study showed that participants had significantly high needs for discharge education concerning home care after discharge. results suggest a need for implementation of enhanced patient education needs in meeting.