Introduction: Hysterectomy or surgical removal of the uterus is one of the most common major surgical procedures of the female reproductive organs, in order to treat benign and malignant diseases. In the treatment of the patient in the postoperative period, the nurse has a key role to play, as the overall personality of the patient is affected. For professional treatment, the nurse must implement a nursing plan, according to the most common identified nursing problems, make nursing diagnoses and, according to them, carry out nursing interventions in the postoperative period. Purpose: We want to determine which the most common nursing problems are, considering the physical and mental problems or complications of the patient and on this basis to define key nursing diagnoses and interventions in the nursing plan that would improve comprehensive treatment of patients in the early postoperative period after hysterectomy. Methods: We decided on a qualitative research approach, a descriptive method of work will be used with a review and analysis of domestic and foreign scientific and professional Slovene and English literature. We will search for literature with the help of ScienceDirect, Medline/PubMed, CINAHL, COBIB.SI databases and with the help of DiKul digital libraries, as well as in the library of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana. We will focus on empirical and transparent scientific articles, published from 2010 to 2020, based on the most common postoperative complications and based on them identify the most common nursing diagnoses and nursing interventions. We will search the literature with keywords: hysterectomy AND postoperative AND nursing, hysterectomy AND postoperative complications AND nursing, hysterectomy AND nursing interventions, hysterectomy AND nursing diagnoses. We used the PRIZMA diagram to select the literature and we included 12 articles in analysis. Results: The most common physiological complications in the postoperative period after hysterectomy are infections of operative wounds and urinary tract, extensive bleeding, urinary retention and thromboembolism, and psychological anxiety, low self-esteem, sexual problems and depression. Nursing diagnoses defined according to the most common complications are the risk of infection of operative wounds, acute pain, insomnia, risk of venous thromboembolism, disturbed body image experience, and prolonged postoperative recovery. Nursing interventions are based on quality communications and trust between a nurse and a patient. This allows early recognition of signs and symptoms, reduces the occurrence of disturbed body image experience and prolonged postoperative recovery. To prevent wound infections and sleep problems like insomnia, nurse must monitor the wound healing process and measure the degree of acute pain. Very important interventions to prevent thromboembolism are applying anticoagulant therapy, use of graduated elastic compression stocking or sleeves and assisting patient with passive or active range of motion. Discussion and conclusion: Anxiety, fear and confusion are increasing the risk of complications after a hysterectomy, which also depends on patient's age, weight, previous medical history and associated chronic diseases. Implementation of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery after Surgery) interventions, which include early mobilization, oral analgesics, feeding and drinking fluids, using chewing gum, could help to reach faster rehabilitation after hysterectomy. These interventions can also improve the quality of treatment and women`s satisfaction after hysterectomy in Slovenian clinical environment. The key role of a nurse in postoperative period is quality individual treatment, preventing and reducing complications, proper placement of key nursing diagnoses and later nursing interventions in the nursing plan.
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