Introduction: Perioperative care is nursing care provided by perioperative nurses to surgical patients during the perioperative period. Its role is important as patients especially those who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery encounter high levels of psychological and physical stress. Objective: To determine the needs of CABG patients throughout the perioperative period and how well those needs were met. Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive survey. A total of 88 patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft were recruited through census sampling. The instrument which was adapted and used with permission for this study was “Survey of Patient Needs and Experiences during the Perioperative Period’ questionnaire (Davis et al., 2014). Results: The patients perceived the perioperative needs in the post-anaesthesia care unit area to be the most important (M = 2.89, SD = 0.06). Perioperative needs which were rated the highest for each of the four time periods were “Having information about the surgical procedure itself”, “Having your family member or significant other with you in the pre-surgical area complications”, “Being treated with respect and with dignity by hospital personnel” and “Having your family member or significant other visit you in the recovery room”. Overall, patients perceived their needs during perioperative period to be partly met (M = 2.73, SD = 0.07) with post-anaesthesia care unit area being rated the highest (M = 2.81, SD = 0.06). Conclusion: The results of this study highlighted the perceived needs of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery throughout their perioperative period. In order to improve the quality of perioperative care for patients, nurses need to take into consideration the important needs identified by the patients and address the items which were not meeting the needs of the patients.
Coronary Artery Bypass ; Education, Medical

Adult ; Alternaria ; immunology ; Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic ; immunology ; Animals ; Antibodies ; immunology ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; immunology ; Antibodies, Fungal ; immunology ; Antigens ; immunology ; Antigens, Bacterial ; immunology ; Antigens, Fungal ; immunology ; Aspergillus fumigatus ; immunology ; Asymptomatic Diseases ; Candida albicans ; immunology ; Cladosporium ; immunology ; Columbidae ; immunology ; Female ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; immunology ; Male ; Melopsittacus ; immunology ; Middle Aged ; Mucor ; immunology ; Nocardia ; immunology ; Parrots ; immunology ; Penicillium chrysogenum ; immunology ; Stachybotrys ; immunology ; Thermoactinomyces ; immunology

INTRODUCTION: Cannabis has consistently been the third most commonly abused drug among drug arrestees in Singapore over the past few years. Accordingly, this study aimed to understand the profile of cannabis users in Singapore and explore the effects of cannabis use on drug progression. METHODS: A total of 450 participants who had used cannabis at least once in their lifetime were recruited from the National Addictions Management Service, prisons, the Community Rehabilitation Centre and halfway houses from August 2017 to May 2018. A face-to-face questionnaire was administered and descriptive analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The mean participant age was 40.9 ± 14.51 years, and 93.1% of them were male. The participants generally initiated cannabis use during adolescence, at a mean onset age of 16.5 ± 4.46 years. Most (89.6%) were introduced to cannabis by peers. Approximately half of them (46.9%) had used cannabis before other illicit drugs and 42.1% of them had used heroin as the succeeding drug. CONCLUSION In Singapore, cannabis use is often initiated during adolescence, largely under peer influence. Cannabis users may progress to other illicit drugs, particularly heroin, later in life.
Adolescent ; Humans ; Male ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Child ; Young Adult ; Female ; Cannabis ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Heroin ; Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology* ; Illicit Drugs