Surgical Safety Practices among Operating Room Nurses

Abstract This study determined the level of compliance with surgical safety practices among operating room nurses from provincial-run hospitals in Negros Occidental. Seventy-seven respondents were surveyed using a questionnaire adapted from the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC). Quantitative data were gathered with certain demographic variables for profiling using a descriptive design. Using descriptive statistics, the OR nurses "always" complied with the SSC overall (mean=4.77, SD=.293), "before the induction of anesthesia (mean=4.82, SD=.349)," "before skin incision (mean=4.70, SD=.357)," and "before the patient leaves the OR (mean=4.79, SD=.260)." Using Pearson's correlation and Spearman's rho, at alpha set to .05, it was found that there was no significant relationship between nurses' level of compliance to the SSC the demographic variables -sex (rpb = -.263, n = 77, p = .127), age (rs (77) = -.015, p = .898), work experience (rs (77) = -.078, p = .499), and highest educational attainment (rpb = -.292, n = 77, p = .089). Based on the study's findings, it was concluded that the nurses' compliance with the SSC is favorable and that their level of compliance is not related or associated with sex, age, work experience, and highest educational attainment. Moreover, it is recommended that interventions/strategies such as regular assessment/re-assessment of performance, relevant training, higher educational pursuits and research, and benchmarking be implemented to improve and maintain the nurses' level of compliance. Keywords: Compliance Surgical Safety Practices, Surgical Safety Checklist