Objective This study develops and evaluates a just-in-time adaptive intervention（JITAI）-based smart nursing protocol for interventional radiology preoperative waiting areas，assessing its impact on patient experience Methods A time-series design was employed. Patients in the waiting area of an interventional operating room at a tertiary hospital in Chengdu，Sichuan Province，were studied during April and August 2024. Participants were divided into an intervention group（n=766） and a control group（n=864）. The intervention group received the newly developed management protocol，while the control group received conventional nursing care. Differences between the groups were compared regarding perceived waiting time，actual waiting time，preoperative anxiety levels，and satisfaction rates. Results Totally 13 participants were lost to follow-up in the intervention group and 11 in the control group，resulting in final analyzed cohorts of 753 and 853 patients，respectively. The median actual waiting time was significantly shorter in the intervention group with 50.03（23.92，76.38）min，compared to the control group with 65.62（35.77，104.32）min. A significant difference was observed between the 2 groups（P<0.001）. Similarly，the median perceived waiting time was significantly lower in the intervention group with 48.00（20.00，70.00） min than 73.00（38.00，105.00） min in the control group. A significant difference was observed between the 2 groups（P<0.001）. The anxiety score during the waiting period was lower in the experimental group than it in the control group，and the experimental group showed a significantly higher satisfaction level compared to the control group，with both differences being statistically significant（P<0.05）. Conclusion The intelligent nursing program，developed based on the JITAI theory，effectively reduces both the actual and perceived preoperative waiting time for patients in the interventional operating room，optimizing their preoperative waiting experience.
