Perioperative Nurses’ Awareness and Attitude about Use of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in India: An Institution Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: WHO SSC is found to be effective in reducing 57% of surgical complications and decreases surgical morbidity, mortality and sentinel events. Despite the known positive effects of using the surgical safety checklist prior to surgery, its application in practice is much less. It is important to determine the awareness and attitude of health personnel about the use of the checklist, as it can help to implement it. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the awareness and attitude about the use of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) among perioperative nurses and to determine the association between awareness and attitude about the use of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) among perioperative nurses and their selected socio-demographic variables. Method: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 25 perioperative nurses working at a tertiary care hospital. Data were collected using a validated self-structured socio demographic data assessment sheet, Attitude questionnaire and Awareness scale. Result: Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that awareness and attitude scores were independent to the age, gender, and training institute. Nurses were having significantly higher mean awareness and attitude score about use of WHO SCC i.e. 5.16±1.3 and 17.12±1.1 respectively. Most of the perioperative nurses (92%) had positive attitude towards implementing SSC to prevent errors. There was no significant correlation found between the perioperative nurses’ awareness and attitude about using WHO SCC at p<0.05. Conclusion: The study concluded that nurses have significantly higher awareness and positive attitude towards the use of WHO SSC and it’s crucial to prevent major complications of surgeries to achieve patients’ safety. How to cite this article:Sharma SK, Arora D, Rani R. Perioperative Nurses’ Awareness and Attitude about Use of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in India: An Institution Based Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Nurs Midwif Res 2020; 7(1): 31-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2455.9318.202006