Effectiveness of Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Theory in postoperative nursing intervention and influence on quality of laryngocarcinoma patient

Objective To evaluate the effect of Dorothea Orem ’ s Self-Care Theory in the postoperative nursing intervention and the influence on the QOL of laryngocarcinoma patient. Methods Total 68 laryngeal cancer patients undergoing partial resection in our hospital between February,2011 and February,2013 were enrolled into this study,and were divided into group A(32 cases) and group B(36 cases) according to the nursing approaches.Group A received the routine nursing intervention,while group B received the intervention by Orem Self-Care Theory.The phonatory function,self-care ability and quality of life between the two groups were compared after the nursing intervention. Results The self-care ability in Group B was significantly better than that in group A,the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).There was no statistical difference in phonatory function between the two groups(χ²=0.782,P=0.258).One year follow-up showed that the verbal communication ability,capacity and total score by Washington Medical Patients Quality of Life Scale(UW-QOL) were significantly better in group B as compared with those in group A(P<0.05). Conclusion The application of Orem’s Self-Care Theory in the postoperative nursing intervention for the laryngeal cancer patients after partial resection can improve their self-care ability and quality of life.