Project description:AimsTo develop a competency scale for operating room nurses and test its reliability and validity.BackgroundThe existing Chinese Registered Nurse Competency Scale and the core competency scale for operating room nurses developed abroad cannot fully meet the capacity needs of Chinese operating room nurses.MethodsThe scale was developed based on the results of qualitative interview and the Delphi method. Ten experts were selected for expert consultation, and 300 operating room nurses were recruited by convenience sampling for a cross-sectional survey to test the reliability and validity of instrument.The reliability and validity of the scale was assessed based on internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability and confirmatory factor analysis. Data collection was conducted between March to July, 2015.ResultsAn initial scale with 42 items was confirmed, and 36 items remained. The internal consistency Cronbach's α was 0.97 for the overall scale and 0.88-0.94 for the subscales. The retest reliability ranged from 0.55-0.96. Five factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, and they explained 66% of the total variance. The fitting indices of the confirmatory factor analysis were as follows: χ2/df = 3.47, CFI = 0.83, TLI = 0.81, SRMR = 0.06 and RMSEA = 0.09.ConclusionsThe core competency scale for operating room nurses with 5 components and 36 items had acceptable reliability and validity. The scale could continue to be optimized in the future.
Project description:This study was conducted to evaluate working posture of operating room nurses and its relationship with demographic and job details of this group.This cross-sectional study was conducted among 147 operating room nurses in Tabriz, Iran using a questionnaire and the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) checklist. The data were analyzed with SPSS.16 using t test, Pearson correlation coefficient and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests for univariate analysis and the linear regression test for multivariate analysis.The mean (SD) of REBA score was 7.7 (1.9), which means a high risk level and highlights an urgent need to change the working postures of the studied nurses. There was significant relationship between working posture and age (P = 0.003), gender (P = 0.003), regular daily exercise (P = 0.048), work experience (P = 0.003), number of shifts per month (P = 0.006) and type of operating rooms (P < 0.001) in univariate analyses. Gender and type of operating room were the predictors of working posture of nurses in multivariate analysis.The findings highlight the need for ergonomic interventions and educational programs to improve working posture of this study population, which can consequently lead to promotion of health and well-being of this group.
Project description:BackgroundBiological hazards are one of the most common threats that operating room personnel face. The present study was conducted to develop and test the psychometric properties of a scale for measuring operating room nurses' exposure to biological hazards.MethodsThis study is a methodological research that was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, a pool of items was developed after an extensive literature review. In the second stage, the scale's validity and reliability were tested. The validity of the scale was assessed in terms of face validity, content validity, and construct validity. To determine the scale's reliability, the researchers evaluated internal consistency and stability.ResultsThe initial version of the exposure to biological hazards scale consisted of 75 items. After assessing face validity, 16 items were eliminated, and one item was added following an evaluation of content validity. In evaluation the construct validity of the scale, three factors were identified that accounted for 66.61% of the variance. The internal consistency of the scale was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88. Additionally, the split-half correlation coefficient was found to be 0.92, and an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.96 confirmed the stability of the scale.ConclusionThe results of the study show that the developed scale has satisfactory reliability and validity. Nursing managers can use it to assess operating room nurses' exposure to biological hazards in the workplace.
Project description:BackgroundThere is a severe shortage of intensive care nurses worldwide, and training a qualified ICU nurse is hard since it takes a very long time to accumulate the intensive care knowledge and skills needed. This study aimed to examine the effect of an escape room teaching method on teamwork attitudes and intensive care knowledge of ICU new nurses, their satisfaction with, and willingness to participate in escape room training.MethodsA convenience sampling approach was utilized to enlist new nurses from April 2023 to March 2024 in China. ICU nurses with less than two years of experience in the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University were involved in our study. Most of them were female (85.71%) with bachelor's degrees (85.71%), and without escape room experiences (92.86%). Teamwork attitudes were collected through the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (T-TAQ) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); intensive care knowledge were collected by researchers-made online intensive care knowledge tests; satisfaction with escape room training, and willingness to participate in the escape room training were collected by researchers-made online questionnaires. Finally, the data were analyzed with SPSS v.26. Descriptive statistics, the paired samples test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, multivariate regression, and Pearson correlation were utilized for analysis.ResultsFifteen groups of new nurses participated in the escape room training. For teamwork attitudes, there were significant differences in the mean T-TAQ total score (p < 0.001) and in the dimensions of teamwork (p < 0.001), leadership (p < 0.001), situation monitoring (p = 0.019), mutual support (p < 0.001), and communication (p < 0.001) before and after the escape room training. For the learning level, the mean intensive care knowledge scores were significantly different before and after the escape room training (p < 0.001). As for the reaction level, the satisfaction of ICU new nurses with the escape room training was high (9.23 ± 0.869), and the majority of them (95.24%) were willing to participate in the escape room training.ConclusionImplementing the escape room teaching method could promote teamwork attitudes and intensive care knowledge of ICU new nurses, and they were satisfied with and willing to participate in the escape room training. The key limitations in the study are the absence of a control group and data loss, and the results should be taken with caution. Our findings indicate that the escape room can be conducted in clinical practice learning for nursing and medical education settings with some props, and in ways of game playing, which doesn't require expensive equipment and can be conducted conveniently, suggesting that escape room might be a promising method with cost-effectiveness value for nursing and medical education globally.
Project description:DesignA two-round Delphi survey was conducted to seek opinions from experts about the index system for the evaluation of training courses of clinical nursing staff's information literacy. Besides, a non-randomized controlled experimental study was adopted to check the application effect of the training courses.AimsThis study intended to construct a training course of information literacy for clinical nurses, train nurses in order to improve their information literacy level and provide theoretical reference for the training of information literacy courses for clinical nurses.MethodsTwo rounds of Delphi study were conducted for the study among 26 clinical medical and nursing experts as well as educational experts from 5 different provinces and cities in China. From July 2022 to October 2022, a total of 84 clinical nurses from two hospitals were selected by the convenience sampling method, of which the nurses in one hospital were the control group and the nurses in the other hospital were the observation group. 42 nurses in the observation group were trained by the constructed information literacy training course. Questionnaire evaluation was used to compare the differences in the level of information literacy of nurses and the training effect between the two groups.ResultsThe results of the Delphi consultation showed that the expert's judgment coefficient was 0.958, the expert's familiarity was 0.946, and the expert's authority coefficient was 0.952. Finally, a training course of information literacy for clinical nurses with 4 course categories and 45 specific course contents was formed. Among them, nursing information awareness included 7 courses, nursing information knowledge 15 courses, nursing information ability 19 courses, and nursing information ethics 4 courses. The results of the empirical study showed that the information literacy level of the nurses in the observation group after the training of the information literacy course was improved, and the scores in nursing information awareness, nursing information knowledge, nursing information ability, and information ethics were significantly higher than those in the control group after training (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThe constructed information literacy training courses for clinical nurses were clearly targeted and systematic. Empirical research showed that the course contents were scientific and reasonable, which could provide reference for the training of clinical nurses' information literacy.
Project description:BackgroundSince operating rooms are a major bottleneck resource and an important revenue driver in hospitals, it is important to use these resources efficiently. Studies estimate that between 60 and 70% of hospital admissions are due to surgeries. Furthermore, staffing cannot be changed daily to respond to changing demands. The resulting high complexity in operating room management necessitates perpetual process evaluation and the use of decision support tools. In this study, we evaluate several management policies and their consequences for the operating theater of the University Hospital Augsburg.MethodsBased on a data set with 12,946 surgeries, we evaluate management policies such as parallel induction of anesthesia with varying levels of staff support, the use of a dedicated emergency room, extending operating room hours reserved as buffer capacity, and different elective patient sequencing policies. We develop a detailed simulation model that serves to capture the process flow in the entire operating theater: scheduling surgeries from a dynamically managed waiting list, handling various types of schedule disruptions, rescheduling and prioritizing postponed and deferred surgeries, and reallocating operating room capacity. The system performance is measured by indicators such as patient waiting time, idle time, staff overtime, and the number of deferred surgeries.ResultsWe identify significant trade-offs between expected waiting times for different patient urgency categories when operating rooms are opened longer to serve as end-of-day buffers. The introduction of parallel induction of anesthesia allows for additional patients to be scheduled and operated on during regular hours. However, this comes with a higher number of expected deferrals, which can be partially mitigated by employing additional anesthesia teams. Changes to the sequencing of elective patients according to their expected surgery duration cause expectable outcomes for a multitude of performance indicators.ConclusionsOur simulation-based approach allows operating theater managers to test a multitude of potential changes in operating room management without disrupting the ongoing workflow. The close collaboration between management and researchers in the design of the simulation framework and the data analysis has yielded immediate benefits for the scheduling policies and data collection efforts at our practice partner.
Project description:BackgroundDigitalization in the health sector requires adaptive change in human attitudes and skills. The operating theatres have been introduced to digital innovations through centuries. The aim of this study was to explore operating room (OR) nurses' and Nurse Anesthetists' (NAs) experiences with digitalization in the operating theatre.MethodsThe study had a qualitative design, using individual interviews with OR nurses and NAs at a Norwegian hospital. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis in-line with recommendations from Braun & Clarke.ResultsTwo themes were identified, namely (1) Impacting the work processes, and (2) Implications for patient safety. The OR nurses and NAs experienced that digitalization impacted on their work processes positively through making these smoother, but also negatively making the work processes vulnerable for disruptions, leading to a need for parallel actions. Digitalization was experienced to positively impact patient safety for example through making information more accessible. However, digital tools reduced focus on the patient, and then represented a risk to patient safety.ConclusionOR nurses and NAs perceive that digitalization on one side may facilitate work processes and information flow. However, on the other side digitalization may steel focus on the patient. These aspects should be taken into consideration in quality improvement initiatives and when introducing new digital tools.
Project description:ObjectiveOperating room nurses, as essential members of health care teams, often face ethical challenges in the operating room. By using the ethical experiences of operating room nurses, a better understanding of ethics in the operating room can be achieved, which can lead to better nursing decisions in the face of these challenges. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate operating room nurses' lived experiences of ethical codes.MethodsA hermeneutic phenomenological study was performed in Hamadan (Iran) from February 2019 to November 2020. Ten operating room nurses were selected as participants by purposive sampling. Data were collected through in-depth and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed based on Van Manen methodology.ResultsData analysis revealed three main themes and 11 sub-themes representing the operating room nurses experience of the ethical code. The main themes were; adherence to professional commitments, preserving patient dignity, and respect to colleagues.ConclusionThe results underlined ethics and ethical values in the operating room. Due to the intense interactions between operating room nurses with the patient and surgical team, commitment to ethics by nurses can lead to improving quality of care and interactions among members of the surgical team. It is suggested that using these codes as a guideline and a framework could be developed to improve the ethical and professional performance of operating room nurses.
Project description:BackgroundSenior anesthesia residents must acquire competency in crisis management for operating room (OR) emergencies. We conducted problem based learning (PBL) OR emergency scenarios for anesthesia residents, focused on emergencies in 'Airway', 'Circulation', 'Central venous catheter', and 'Pain management complications'. Non-technical skills are an integral component of team-based OR emergency management.MethodsPrior to integrated OR emergency clinical and non-technical skills PBL training, participating 35 anesthesia residents completed two 5-point scale surveys regarding frequency of emergency experiences in the operating room, and self-confidence for anesthesia-related crisis management. Repeat administration of the self-confidence survey was completed immediately following PBL training.ResultsPost-PBL resident clinical management self- confidence improved (P<0.05) in all scenarios on Circulation, Central venous catheter, and Pain treatment related complication topics. Impossible intubation, impossible oxygenation, and awake intubation did not show significant difference following PBL.ConclusionOur findings suggest that PBL for OR emergency management can improve resident self- confidence in anesthesia residents.