Nurses ' Performance Regarding the Patients ' Safety Measures in Operating Theater

Abstract

Background: Operating theater is a very critical and complex area so, it requires close and careful team work attention. Nurses play an indispensable role in the operating theater and influence the success of an operation without complications. Ensuring patients' safety in operating theater begins before the patients enters the operative suit and includes attention to all applicable types of preventable medical errors. Aim of the study: to assess nurses' performance regarding the patients' safety measures in operating theater. Research design: A descriptive exploratory design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted in operating rooms at Belbies Centeral Hospital. Subjects: a convenient sample of all available nurses in the operating rooms, including 40 nurses from both gender, with different ages, educational levels and years of experience were selected for this study. Data collection tools: 1) Self-administered questionnaire, 2) nurses practice observational checklist, 3) nurses' attitude rating scale. Results: The results of this study showed that, about two third of the studied nurses had satisfactory total level of knowledge and about three quartant of them had satisfactory total level of practice and about two third of them had satisfactory total level of attitude regarding the patients' safety measures in operating theater. Furthermore, there was a statistical significant correlation between total studied nurses' knowledge, total practice and total attitude. Conclusion: The current study concluded that, more than two third of the studied nurses had total satisfactory level of knowledge, positive attitude and the three quarter of them had total satisfactory level of practice regarding the patients' safety measures in operating theater. Recommendations: The study recommended the importance of implementing an in-service training programs to improve nurses' performance regarding the patients' safety measures in operating theater. Strict observation of studied nurses during the work and continuous evaluation of their performance.