Enhancing Patient Satisfaction and Reducing Nurse Workload: The Impact of Multimedia Health Education in a Prospective Single-center Randomized Controlled Trial

Liping Yang ^1,2,3 Zilan Qin ^1,2,3* Jia Yao ^2,4* Huan Xu ^1* Jinhui Tian ^2,5 Yanxian Ren ^1,2,4* Haiping Wang ^1,2,4 Wenbo Meng ^1,2,4*

• ¹ Department of General Surgery, First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
• ² The First School of clinical medcine, Lanzhou University, lanzhou city,Gansu province, China
• ³ School of Nursing, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
• ⁴ Key Laboratory for Biotherapy and Regenerative Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
• ⁵ Institute of Evidence-Based Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China

Introduction: Health education is an important part of nursing care. Verbal health education is a common practice in surgical wards, which is time-consuming and laborious. Thus, this study aims to evaluate whether multimedia health education reduces nurses’ workload without compromising patient and family satisfaction in a surgical context. Methods: We conducted a parallel-group, prospective randomized controlled trial at the Hepatobiliary Surgery Institute of Lanzhou University’s First Hospital between July 2019 and May 2022. Eligible patients (≥18 years) with general surgical conditions and acceptable for surgery were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive a multi-media health education group or a standard health education group. Randomization was performed by an independent statistician using a computer-generated randomization list. The nurses’ workload and satisfaction were the main outcomes; the anxiety level of patients and the variables affecting nurse workload were the secondary outcomes. Results: A total of 184 eligible participants were randomly assigned to receive multimedia health education and standard health education. The results showed that multimedia health education can shorten the time [15.21 (0.63)vs.16.94 (3.96)] nurses spend on health education during patient admissions, the difference being statistically significant (P < 0.001), but it did not lower the satisfaction levels of nurses [73.46 (2.36) vs. 67.16 (5.52)], patients [53.35 (2.09) vs. 47.86 (5.00)], their families [53.35 (2.28) vs. 47.86 (4.53)] and doctors [73.33 (2.40) vs. 68.07 (4.92)] regarding health education (P < 0.001); in fact, it increased their satisfaction. Conclusion: Multi-media health education could reduce nurses’ workload and enhance patient satisfaction but not increase complications.