Ayako Kitamura, RN1, Yusuke Watanabe, MD2, Misa Shimizu, RN3, Hitomi Funane, RN1. 1Sapporo Kyoritsu Gorinbashi Hospital, 2Department of Gastroenterological surgery II, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, 3Tonan Hospital
Background: Pilot data from North America suggests that surgeons have knowledge gaps in the safe use of electrosurgery (ES) devices and a half-day ES workshop have shown to be an effective method to address the knowledge gaps. Even though operating room (OR) nurses require clear understanding of how to safely use ES devices as a part of the OR team, their knowledge of the safe use of the devices has never been investigated. It is also unclear if curricular content can be effectively delivered in a shorter time frame to OR nurses. The purpose of this study was to determine OR nurses’ knowledge regarding the safe use of ES, and determine if critical knowledge of ES safety could be acquired in a 60-minute workshop amongst Japanese OR nurses.
Methods: During the local OR nurse meetings, 60-minute ES workshops based on the SAGES’ Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy (FUSE) curriculum and AORN (Association of periOperative Registered Nurses)’s guidelines were conducted. The workshop content was divided into 2 sections: principles of ES, and ES-related adverse events including OR fire. Participants took pre- and post-course assessments (16-item multiple-choice examination), assessing fundamental knowledge of ES. They also completed a questionnaire regarding the educational value of the session. Data expressed as mean score ± standard deviation. Unpaired or paired t-test determined significance (p<0.05).
Results: A total of 173 OR nurses from 53 hospitals completed the course (age 34 ± 9; 78% female; years of experience 6 ± 5). The mean pre-course score in the entire cohort was 54 ± 18% (principle of ES 60 ± 25%, ES-related adverse events: 54 ± 24%). After the session, 168 (97%) participants' scores increased significantly with a post-course score of 79 ± 10%, p<0.001. Of 163 (94%) participants who completed the questionnaire, the vast majority of participants were either strongly satisfied (58%) or satisfied (42%) with the course content, they either strongly agreed (49%) or agreed (51%) that they would change their practice based on the content that was learned from the course, and 51% of participants would strongly recommend the ES course to their colleagues.
Conclusions: OR nurses have knowledge gaps in the safe use of electrosurgical devices. A 60-minute FUSE-based workshop for OR nurses can help address this knowledge gap and improve surgical team skills for safer surgery.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 80408
Program Number: P315
Presentation Session: Poster (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster
