The Effects of Educational Intervention on Operating Room Nurses' Application of Electrosurgical Units

Background: An electrosurgical unit is one of the most essential pieces of equipment in operating rooms. Over 80% of operations today make use of electrosurgical units. Training operating room nurses in correct application of electrosurgical units and evaluation of their application play a key role in making optimal use of the units and extending their lifetime, reducing occupational hazards for surgical teams, and enhancing the safety of patients. The present study aims to investigate the effects of an educational intervention on operating room nurses' application of electrosurgical units. Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental work of research conducted in all the operating rooms of the hospitals located in Shiraz, Iran. Data were collected from 200 observations of 200 surgeries (100 before intervention and 100 after). The content of education was derived from a literature review and standard guidelines and was presented as a poster in the operating rooms. The data collection instruments consisted of a Demographic Information Questionnaire, a surgery checklist, and the checklist for operating room Nurses' application of electrosurgical units. Data were collected once before the intervention and then again one month after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics of chi-square test and paired t-test at a significance level of 0.05 in SPSS v. 18.Results: The average age of the participating nurses was 31.540±6.772 years. The majority of the participants were female. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the means and standard deviations of the nurses' application of electrosurgical units scores before (18.330±2.666) and after (20.820±3.400) intervention. Conclusion: Introducing operating room nurses to the standard guidelines for application of electrosurgical units can improve the quality of services provided by the nurses, increase the safety of patients, and reduce occupational hazards. Thus, to improve operating room nurses' professional performance in application of electrosurgical units, medical managers and policy-makers should attach more importance to on-the-job training programs.