A DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE ADOLESCENT'S GENERAL ANESTHESIA EXPERIENCE (ANESTHESIA).
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 177
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Human Development.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: The present anesthesia literature is rich in explaining the physiological effects of anesthetic administration upon child and adult populations. However, few published studies have explored the anesthetic experience from the patient's perspective and not one examined adolescents as an exclusive sample. The purpose of this investigation was to discover the adolescent's general anesthesia experience.

The sample was comprised of 30 adolescents (ranging in age from 11 to 19 years) who were admitted to a University Medical Center and scheduled for an elective surgical procedure. The majority of the adolescents were Caucasian.

The research design was exploratory-descriptive and employed grounded theory methodology. Data collection strategies included observations of the adolescents during particular anesthesia events and in-depth post-operative interviews. Data were analyzed through the operations of dimensional analysis.

The data revealed contextual, relevant, and salient dimensions associated with the adolescent's general anesthesia experience. Salient dimensions included knowledge, management, and agency. These concepts were indicative of a developmental process which occurred during adolescence (the process of moving toward self-agency) within the context of undergoing general anesthesia for a surgical procedure.

Specific age related findings were also discovered: early adolescents maintained a passive posture throughout their anesthesia procedures; middle adolescents actively acquired knowledge and gained experience through attempted self-management trials; and late adolescents were noted for their self-awareness, self-reliance, and altruism.

It was concluded that adolescents engage in a process of moving toward self-agency during the second decade of life. This theoretical process evolves over four distinct stages: (a) passivity and preferences, (b) acquiring knowledge and experience, (c) becoming self-sufficient, and (d) becoming altruistic. Recognizing the stages of moving toward self-agency are important when developing interventions in the peri-operative environment that are congruent with adolescent behaviors throughout the teenage years.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0169.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1994.

School code: 0034.