The book is the first of its kind to specifically outline the psycho-educational nursing interventions required by the anxious, adult patient undergoing elective, ambulatory surgery. Anxiety management is a considerable issue for the majority of surgical patients and has been recognised as such for many decades. However, no formal nursing intervention currently exists to support patients during this acute phase.

This book is one of the first to provide strong evidence for the way in which patients can be assisted in the management of their anxiety. Moreover, it provides future direction for surgical nursing intervention in this new era of minimal invasive surgery where patients undergoing elective procedures increasingly require less physical nursing intervention and spend very little time within the acute hospital setting.