Impact of risk assessment nursing combined with psychological care on SAS scores, SDS scores, and patient compliance in patients in the surgical intensive care unit: a single-center, randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: By comparing with routine nursing, we aim to explore the impacts of risk assessment nursing combined with psychological care on SAS scores, SDS scores, and patient compliance in surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. METHODS: This study is a single-center, randomized controlled trial (due to the nature of the study, blinding was not implemented for the researchers and patients, but blinding was implemented for data collectors, outcome assessors, and data statistical analysts). A total of 162 patients were randomly divided into a control group (routine specialist nursing) and an intervention group (risk assessment nursing combined with psychological care on the basis of the control group) (81 cases each) using a random number table method. Primary outcome measures included Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and patient compliance. Secondary outcome measures included General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), adverse events, and satisfaction of family members with nursing were recorded. RESULTS: After nursing care, the intervention group showed significant improvements over the control group in multiple indicators: the SAS scores (45.95 ± 2.40 vs. 51.77 ± 2.90; 95%CI: -2.576 to -1.797), SDS scores (38.78 ± 2.19 vs. 46.30 ± 2.88; 95%CI: -3.384 to -2.495), and incidence of adverse events (3.70% vs. 12.35%; 95%CI: 1.019 to 2.115) were lower (all P < 0.05); the GSES scores (33.11 ± 2.92 vs. 28.94 ± 3.11; 95%CI: 1.040 to 1.725), overall compliance rate (97.53% vs. 82.72%; 95%CI: 0.418 to 0.741), and family member satisfaction (95.06% vs. 85.19%; 95%CI: 0.480 to 0.962) were higher (all P < 0.05); meanwhile, the WHOQOL-BREF scores in all dimensions also showed significant improvements (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Compared with routine nursing, risk assessment nursing combined with psychological care improves emotional well-being, patient compliance, self-efficacy, and quality of life while reducing adverse events and enhancing family satisfaction in SICU patients.