Introduction: Uncertainty, fears and anxiety are common reactions to an upcoming colectomy for colorectal cancer patients and are related not only to cancer disease, but also to the inevitable change in colon anatomy, affecting their preoperative psychological and functional condition and their postsurgical recovery.
Purpose: We aim to evaluate the psychological and functional recovery of colorectal cancer patients, who undergo colectomy, after an acceptance-based nursing intervention. The scope of this brief preoperative intervention is to enable patients to cope more efficiently with the upcoming surgery and their health status, as it is expected to reduce anxiety and have positive effect on postsurgical psychological and functional recovery.
Methods: The study includes histologically diagnosed patients with colorectal cancer, regardless of stage, who are scheduled to undergo colectomy. Patients will be divided into two groups-the experimental and the control group-by simple randomization. Both groups are going to complete a set of same questionnaires regarding quality of life, sleep, anxiety, depression and functional status. Patients in the control arm will then receive treatment-as-usual while patients in the experimental arm will also receive an acceptance-based intervention before surgery. Postoperatively, for both groups, apart from the self-reported symptoms, we will assess objective recovery factors, such as postoperative complications
