Determination of patient learning needs after thyroidectomy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine discharge learning needs of patients undergoing thyroidectomy. The population of this descriptive study consisted of patients undergoing thyroidectomy in the Endocrine Surgery Unit of a university hospital between February and December 2013. The study included 251 patients who were discharged after thyroidectomy. Data obtained using the data collection form and the Patient Leaning Needs Scale (PLNS) were analyzed by frequency, mean, standard deviation, Kruskal Wallis and student-t tests. The mean age of the patients was 47.91±13.05 and 76.1% were females. The PLNS total mean score was 208.38±34.91, with the maximum score of 39.23±6.80 on the subscale of treatment and complications and the minimum score of 19.45±4.70 on the subscale of feelings related to condition. It was found that the PLNS total score of the patients was not influenced by age, gender, marital status (p>0.05). This study demonstrated that patients had high learning needs after thyroidectomy.