Postanesthesia workload in Sweden – a retrospective register-based follow-up study

In postanaesthesia care, a key clinical challenge is to identify at an early stage which patients will require more extensive monitoring, nursing care and resources after surgery. Care needs may vary considerably depending on the patient’s condition, the type of surgical procedure and the postoperative course. At the same time, there is often no clear and comprehensive overview of how workload is distributed between patients or which factors influence the need for nursing interventions.

This project is a national register-based study using data from the Swedish Perioperative Register, SPOR. The study will analyse registrations from six postoperative units that use the validated Postanaesthesia Workload Instrument, PAWI. PAWI enables postanaesthesia workload to be described in a structured way and linked to patients’ care trajectories.

The aim is to map postanaesthesia workload in Sweden, describe how it is distributed across the different areas of PAWI, and investigate which factors are associated with increased workload. The study will also examine whether higher workload is associated with complications, longer length of stay or need for intensive care. Data are collected from local hospitals, county hospitals and university hospitals.

The results may contribute to a national overview of postanaesthesia workload and provide new knowledge about how nursing interventions influence patients’ care trajectories. In the long term, the project may support improved care processes, more appropriate planning of postanaesthesia care, and care that is safer, more secure and more resource-efficient.

The project contributes to information-driven care by using collected registry data to generate new knowledge about the content of care, resource needs and patient outcomes. By analysing structured data on workload, the project can contribute to improved decision-making support for the planning, prioritisation and development of postanaesthesia care.