Total knee replacement (TKR) is the most effective treatment modality for the correction of knee deformities, increasing the knee functions (KF), relieving pain, and improving quality of life (QoL) of patients. According to the health statistics of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), TKR is most commonly used in Sweden (240/100,000), United States (226/100,000), and Austria (215/100,000), while this rate is estimated as 67/100,000 in Turkey (OECD, 2017). Although it has been increasingly applied in Turkey and worldwide, it is associated with postoperative pain, restricted range of motion (ROM), and reduced muscle strength, leading to prolonged recovery process and return to activities of daily living (ADLs) with impaired QoL . In addition, inadequate patient education on knee care and ADLs following TKR may result in repetitive and uncontrollable movements and complications such as severe pain and dislocation. Postoperative complications have been shown to be associated with rehospitalization and redo surgery.

A comprehensive nursing care and patient education are essential to gain independence and return ADLs for patients undergoing TKR. Patient education after TKR increases the success of the operation, improving the healing period, and preventing or minimizing postoperative complications after discharge. All these improve the KF and QoL of the patients. Patients are usually discharged on the first postoperative day, if no complication occurs. Thus, the patient education can be instructed within a very limited period of time, mostly without repetition. Furthermore, patients and/or their relatives may be anxious after TKR and before discharge, leading to difficulties in understanding the education fully or remembering the education given in the hospital. As a result, the use of new technological education tools is inevitable to use the time effectively for nurses.

In recent years, disease-specific video-assisted education (VE) has been increasingly used for patient education. This tool has certain advantages that patients can watch the video repeatedly in every setting, until they understand its content and can remember the content than verbal instructions without limitations of recall memory with decreased anxiety and improved self-care abilities and, eventually, improved patient outcomes . In the present study, we hypothesized that VE could improve the KF and QoL following TKR. Using a holistic approach, we, therefore, aimed to investigate the effect of VE on KF and QoL in patients undergoing TKR.

Inclusion Criteria:

Written and verbal consent was obtained to participate in the research,

• 18 years and over,
• Conscious, oriented and cooperative,
• Able to speak and understand Turkish,
• Not diagnosed with any psychiatric illness,
• No known cancer disease,
• Elective surgical intervention applied,
• Total knee replacement applied for the first time,
• Unilateral total knee replacement applied,
• Patients with an Standardized Mini-Mental Test score of 23 and above were included.

Exclusion Criteria:

To research:

• Those who do not agree to participate in the research,
• Under 18 years old,
• Unconscious, without orientation and cooperation,
• Can't speak or understand Turkish,
• Having previously been diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis,
• Having a history of cancer,
• Emergency surgical intervention applied,
• Total knee replacement applied before,
• Bilateral (bilateral) total knee replacement applied,
• Patients with an Standardized Mini-Mental Test value below 23 were not included.