Medical Specialties Commons^™

Improving Perioperative Communication: Can Labelled Theatre Caps Play A Role?, Maree Yates, Paula Foran

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

Studies have shown that approximately one third of operating room communications fail. This has a negative impact on patient safety, with half of all adverse events being attributed to communication failures. However, human factors have the capacity to protect patients. Aviation’s human factors strategies provide guidance for staff and are beneficial in the operating room. Currently, no intervention is universally applied to improve operating room communication and team performance. Closed loop communication, though poorly utilised, has been demonstrated to counteract communication errors, therefore protecting patient safety. In 2018, calls were made to take advantage of theatre caps to display staff …

Undertaking The Surgical Count: An Observational Study, Victoria Ruth Warwick, Brigid M. Gillespie, Anne Mcmurray, Karen G. Clark-Burg

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

Objective

To systematically measure and describe perioperative nurses’ surgical count practices using the Surgical Count Observational Tool, to measure conformity with standardised processes and identify barriers and enablers influencing nurses’ practices.

Sample and setting

A large public tertiary hospital in Western Australia.

Methods

The Surgical Count Observational Tool (SCOT) was developed using the Content Validity Index over two Delphi panel rounds and then pilot tested. Individual observations were analysed according to 14 criteria based on the 2016 Australian College of Perioperative Nurses (ACORN) standard ‘Management of accountable items used during surgery and procedures’¹. Count processes were observed over …

The Impact Of Distractions And Interruptions In The Operating Room On Patient Safety And The Operating Room Team: An Integrative Review, Sonia Mackenzie, Paula Foran

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

Problem identification: In the operating room (OR), distractions and interruptions are frequent, impacting patient safety, coordination and efficiency and causing errors and patient harm. The OR team is impacted while attempting to perform critical work. This review explores the impact of distractions and interruptions in the OR on patient safety and the OR team.

Literature search: Inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined. Six databases were searched with the search criteria for inclusion being in English, peer-reviewed and published between 2014 and 2019. In total 296 papers were identified.

Data evaluation synthesis: Duplicates were removed, and 195 papers were screened …

Perioperative Nurses’ Engagement With The Surgical Safety Checklist: A Focused Ethnography, Julie A. Rogers, Paul Mcleish, Jan Alderman

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

Purpose

To gain greater insight into how nurses engage with the multidisciplinary team during the surgical safety checklist process.

Participants and setting

Participants were a purposeful sample of eight operating room nurses. The study was conducted in the operating room department of a major tertiary teaching hospital in South Australia.

Methods

Phase 1 employed participant observations while phase 2 employed semi-structured interviews.

Findings

Participants supported the use of the surgical safety checklist and valued its role to enhance patient safety. Multidisciplinary team culture played a significant role in how the checklist was conducted and heavily influenced the level of nurse …

The Patient, Case, Individual And Environmental Factors That Impact On The Surgical Count Process: An Integrative Review, Victoria Ruth Warwick, Brigid M. Gillespie, Anne Mcmurray, Karen G. Clark-Burg

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

Problem identification

The surgical count is an integral component of the perioperative nurse’s role designed to reduce the risk of unintentional retained items (URIs) during surgery. Current literature provides statistical data that URIs continue to occur which has exposed a lack of adherence to the surgical count process as a possible contributing factor. This review was undertaken to identify what is currently known about perioperative nurses’ practices in relation to the surgical count and the perceived barriers and enablers when trying to follow best practice as outlined in ACORN’s Standards for Perioperative Nursing in Australia.

Literature search

The objective …

Reshaping Perioperative Nursing Practice To Get The Job Done: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study, Sharon Bingham, Kenneth Walsh, Karen Ford

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

No abstract provided.

The Collaborative Development Of A Pre-Operative Checklist: An E-Delphi Study, Katherine Murphy, Kim Walker, Jed Duff, Robyn Williams

Journal of Perioperative Nursing

The aim of this study was to identify which items should be included in a pre-operative checklist based on recommendations by nurse experts in order to promote patient safety and effective communication in the perioperative environment.

Method: Thirty-five nurses participated in this e-Delphi study, which was conducted online via SurveyMonkey.. Each survey presented participants with a list of potential items for inclusion in a pre-operative checklist. Participants were asked to identify items they felt should be included in the checklist with the option to include comments. Comments were de-identified and shared with other participants to allow confidential interaction. The surveys …