Nursing prostatectomy patients/Atividades de enfermagem ao paciente prostatectomizado/Actividades de enfermeria al paciente prostatectomizado

This descriptive study aimed to identify the activities of urological nursing professionals in caring for postoperative prostatectomy patients, and to compare them with those described in the literature. It was conducted at a university hospital in northeastern Brazil, in August and September 2011, with 18 nursing professionals, including nurses, nurse technicians and nursing assistants, who answered a questionnaire about their sociodemographic data and the care they provided to postoperative prostatectomy patients. The nursing care was grouped into six categories: postoperative guidance; treatment of urinary incontinence; treatment of erectile dysfunction; treatment of pain; psychological monitoring; and treatment of hyponatremia. It was concluded that nursing professionals, at odds with the literature, emphasized postoperative guidance, treatment of urinary incontinence and pain, and mental health counseling.