What Matters to Patients on the Day of Surgery-A Flash Mob Study

Purpose: To explore what matters to patients on the day of surgery, to describe how a flash mob study was conducted in a perioperative setting and to provide recommendations for future studies adopting the flash mob design.

Design: Flash mob study.

Methods: On June 6 to June 7, 2023, a 24-hour flash mob study was carried out in eight Danish perioperative units. Eligible for inclusion were adult patients scheduled for elective or acute surgery. After giving informed consent, patients answered two qualitative questions: what mattered to them on the day of surgery, and whether the staff were aware of this. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Patient characteristics were presented using descriptive statistics.

Findings: Patients expressed a need to feel safe and cared for, be informed, and to receive proper anesthesia and postoperative care. Twenty-nine percent had not told health care staff, most often because they had not been asked about what mattered to them and because they did not want to be a nuisance.

Conclusions: The flash mob study was feasible and provided insight into patients' perspectives on the day of surgery. To gain insight into what matters on the day of surgery, health care professionals must actively ask patients. Furthermore, the flash mob proved to be an opportunity to create attention to what matters to patients on the day of surgery.