Narrative nursing for negative emotions in patients with acute pancreatitis: Based on model construction and application

BACKGROUND Acute pancreatitis (AP), as a common acute abdomen disease, has a high incidence rate worldwide and is often accompanied by severe complications. Negative emotions lead to increased secretion of stress hormones, elevated blood sugar levels, and enhanced insulin resistance, which in turn increases the risk of AP and significantly affects the patient's quality of life. Therefore, exploring the intervention effects of narrative nursing programs on the negative emotions of patients with AP is not only helpful in alleviating psychological stress and improving quality of life but also has significant implications for improving disease outcomes and prognosis. AIM To construct a narrative nursing model for negative emotions in patients with AP and verify its efficacy in application. METHODS Through Delphi expert consultation, a narrative nursing model for negative emotions in patients with AP was constructed. A non-randomized quasi-experimental study design was used in this study. A total of 92 patients with AP with negative emotions admitted to a tertiary hospital in Nantong City of Jiangsu Province, China from September 2022 to August 2023 were recruited by convenience sampling, among whom 46 patients admitted from September 2022 to February 2023 were included in the observation group, and 46 patients from March to August 2023 were selected as control group. The observation group received narrative nursing plan, while the control group was given with routine nursing. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), positive and negative affect scale (PANAS), caring behavior scale, patient satisfaction scale and 36-item short form health survey questionnaire (SF-36) were used to evaluate their emotions, satisfaction and caring behaviors in the two groups on the day of discharge, 1-and 3-month following discharge. RESULTS According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 45 cases in the intervention group and 44 cases in the control group eventually recruited and completed in the study. On the day of discharge, the intervention group showed significantly lower scores of SAS, SDS and negative emotion (28.57 ± 4.52 vs 17.4 ± 4.44, P < 0.001), whereas evidently higher outcomes in the positive emotion score, Caring behavior scale score and satisfaction score compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Repeated measurement analysis of variance showed that significant between-group differences were found in time effect, inter-group effect and interaction effect of SAS and PANAS scores as well as in time effect and inter-group effect of SF-36 scores (P < 0.05); the SF-36 scores of two groups at 3 months after discharge were higher than those at 1 month after discharge (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The application of narrative nursing protocols has demonstrated significant effectiveness in alleviating anxiety, ameliorating negative emotions, and enhancing satisfaction among patients with AP.