‘I’ve just got to take that risk and have faith . . .’: The challenge of gaining and maintaining trust in patients undergoing knee surgery with a regional anaesthetic

Abstract

Traditionally, the focus of the operating theatre has been on conducting safe, efficient surgery with unconscious patients. However, the care of awake patients is now a prominent feature of modern perioperative practise as the volume of surgery performed under regional anaesthesia increases. The aim of this novel study was to understand the experience of being a conscious patient during regional anaesthesia and knee surgery in the perioperative environment. Data were gathered through observation and ethnographic interview and analysis followed a constant comparative grounded theory approach. The concepts of Trust and Faith are identified as recurrent themes highlighted in the data. This article identifies the need to understand patients’ expectations regarding the clinical encounter and how subsequent treatment will develop, so that, reasons for any deviation can be discussed openly and an explanation provided. Each clinical encounter takes place within a relationship based upon an uneven distribution of power, enacted through the interaction itself, with the health care professional in a dominant role. It is the responsibility of health care staff to recognise and negate this power imbalance and reinforce trusting relationships so information and treatment options are not presented as a ‘fait accompli’ but negotiated through jargon free easy to understand language.