International journal of nursing studies advances
Information needs and engagement profiles of adults undergoing ambulatory surgery: a qualitative study
By Qin W, Zhu Q, Shen Y and 4 others.
Abstract
Background
Ambulatory surgery compresses preparation, treatment and discharge into a short period, followed by recovery at home. Information support must address emotional concerns, information preferences and ways of engaging with care. Although unmet information needs have been described, less is known about how these needs form recognisable engagement profiles.
Objective
To explore adult patients' information needs across the ambulatory surgery pathway and develop empirically informed engagement profiles to guide future personalised information support, this qualitative descriptive study recruited thirty-three adult patients through purposive maximum-variation sampling at an ambulatory surgery centre at a tertiary hospital in Eastern China from October to December 2025; nine caregivers of children interviewed in the original study were excluded from this analysis.