Theatre nurses' attitudes towards the WHO surgical safety checklist use in the operating theaters

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organisation (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) was demonstrated to improve patient safety and team communication between theatre staff, thus avoiding unnecessary error during surgery (Schwendimann et al., 2019 Treadwell et al., 2012; Vohra et al., 2015). However, despite these known benefits, the attitudes of theatre nursing staff towards using the WHO SSC differ, thus influencing the development of safe practices and teamwork during surgery. Hence, there is a need to examine the attitudes of theatre nurses towards the WHO SSC, in Malta. Aim: The main aim of this study is to examine theatre nurses’ attitudes towards the WHO SSC use. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was employed. A self-administered paper-based questionnaire (the Safety Attitude Questionnaire by O’Conner et al., 2013), was distributed to theatre nurses, anaesthetic and scrub, in the operating theatres, in a local hospital at one point in time. Methods: All theatre nurses (anaesthetic and scrub, n = 200) working in the operating theatres at a public general hospital in Malta were invited to participate. 140 theatre nurses completed the questionnaire. A response rate of 70% was obtained. Results: The findings of this investigation are very comparable to the findings in the general literature as the majority of theatre nurses had a positive attitude towards the WHO SSC use. Theatre nurses agreed that using the WHO SSC has a number of benefits, such as increasing patient safety (95.7%) and teamwork (87.1%) during surgery. It was revealed that 82.1% participants felt that the theatre nurses support the use of WHO SSC. Nonetheless, several barriers, such as lack of time and lack of theatre staff assertiveness, were concerns which can hinder the successful use of the WHO SSC. Conclusion: Theatre nurses viewed the WHO SSC use as favourably, and that they perceived it as a valuable tool during any surgical intervention, suggest that nurses were significantly informed about the WHO SCC and its use. Moreover, it is vital to continue enhancing the ongoing education and training of the WHO SSC and its benefits to keep generating the importance of embracing a safety culture. However, there is a need to target the barriers mentioned so that theatre nurses will keep an ongoing commitment towards its use.