Effects of evidence-based nursing on psychological well-being, postoperative complications and quality of life after breast cancer surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of evidence-based nursing (EBN) on psychological well-being, postoperative complications and quality of life (QOL) after breast cancer (BC) surgery.

Methods: A total of 263 patients with BC who were surgically treated in Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital from May, 2018 to August, 2019 were as assigned to observation group (EBN, n=142) and control group (routine nursing care, n=121). Clinical indicators and any complications after intervention were recorded. And the exercise compliance in the affected limbs was evaluated. Barthel index (BI), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were employed for the assessment of self-care ability, psychological status, and sleep quality, respectively. In addition, we utilized the numerical rating scale (NRS) to evaluate postoperative pain, the functional assessment of cancer therapy-breast (FACT-B) scale to assesse the quality of life (QOL), and the self-made questionnaire to quantify patient satisfaction.

Results: After intervention, the observation group presented greater improvement in symptoms, higher exercise compliance and BI scores, as well as lower SAS, SDS, and PSQI scores; the incidence of postoperative pain and complications decreased in observation group, and FACT-B scores and patient satisfaction increased.

Conclusions: EBN is effective in relieving symptoms, reducing negative emotions and postoperative complications, as well as enhancing the QOL of patients undergoing BC surgery.