Perioperative patient safety indicators-A Delphi study.

AIM: To identify, define and achieve consensus on perioperative patient safety indicators within a Swedish context. DESIGN: A modified Delphi method. METHODS: A purposeful sample of 22 experts, all experienced operating room nurse specialists, was recruited for this study. A questionnaire was constructed incorporating statements derived from a preceding study. The experts were asked to rate the importance of each statement concerning patient safety during the perioperative phase. The data collection occurred through an online survey platform between November 2022 and April 2023. The CREDES checklist guided the reporting of this study. RESULTS: The three-round Delphi study resulted in consensus on 73 statements out of 103, encompassing 74% process indicators and 26% structure indicators. Key areas of consensus included the use of the Surgical Safety Checklist and optimizing the operating room environment. CONCLUSION: Consensus was reached on perioperative safety indicators, underscoring the intricate challenges involved in ensuring patient safety in the operating room. It emphasizes the important integration of both structure and process indicators for comprehensive safety assessment during surgical procedures. Recognizing the difficulty in measuring factors like teamwork and communication, essential for patient safety, the study offers practical guidance. It underlines a balanced approach and specific consensus areas applicable in clinical practice to enhance perioperative patient safety. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND PATIENT CARE: This study provides concrete practice guidance and establishes a structured framework for evaluating perioperative care processes. It emphasizes the critical role of professionals having the necessary skills and being present during surgical procedures. Additionally, the study underscores the paramount importance of effective communication and teamwork within the operating room team, substantively contributing to overall patient safety enhancement. IMPACT: The study focused on addressing the challenge of ensuring patient safety in operating rooms, acknowledging the persistent complications related to surgery despite global efforts to eliminate avoidable harm in healthcare. Consensus was reached on 73 crucial indicators for perioperative patient safety, emphasizing a balanced approach integrating both process and structure indicators for a comprehensive assessment of safety during surgical procedures. The study has a broad impact on professionals and healthcare systems, providing concrete guidance for practice and offering a structured process for evaluating perioperative care. REPORTING METHOD: The study is reported informed by 'Guidance on Conducting and REporting DElphi Studies (CREDES) in palliative care: Recommendations derived from a methodological systematic review'. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Longer work experience and age associated with safety attitudes in operating room nurses: an online cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety is fundamental when providing care in the operating room. Still, adverse events and errors are a challenge for patient safety worldwide. To avoid preventable patient harm, organisations need a positive safety culture, the measurable component of which is known as the safety climate. To best improve the safety climate the current attitudes to safety must first be understood. AIM: To explore operating room nurses' safety attitudes and their views on how to improve patient safety in operating rooms. METHOD: A cross-sectional study using the Swedish-translated version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire, Operating Room version. Data were collected using an online survey platform. RESULTS: 358 operating room nurses completed the questionnaire. The results show that the older age group rated their working conditions and management support as better than the younger age groups. The older age group also rated their stress recognition as lower compared with the younger age groups. The same pattern was seen in terms of work experience, with more-experienced respondents showing a higher mean score for the factor working conditions and a lower mean score for the factor stress recognition as compared with their less-experienced colleagues. When comparing hospital types, county hospital employees had higher factor scores for safety climate, job satisfaction and working conditions than university hospital employees. The respondents' most recurring recommendations for improving patient safety were 'Having better and clearer communication' followed by 'Having enough time to do things the way they should be done'. CONCLUSION: More focus on safety with increasing age and experience was observed in this cohort. Need for improvements is reported for patient safety in operating rooms, mainly when it comes to communication and workload. To improve and develop patient safety in the operating room, the organisational safety climate needs to be actively managed and developed. One step in actively managing the safety climate may be efforts to retain experienced operating room nurses.

Patient safety during joint replacement surgery: experiences of operating room nurses.

BACKGROUND: Avoidable complications for surgical patients still occur despite efforts to improve patient safety processes in operating rooms. Analysis of experiences of operating room nurses can contribute to better understanding of perioperative processes and flow, and why avoidable complications still occur. AIM: To explore aspects of patient safety practice during joint replacement surgery through assessment of operating room nurse experiences. METHOD: A qualitative design using semistructured interviews with 21 operating room nurses currently involved in joint replacement surgery in Sweden. Inductive qualitative content analysis was used. RESULTS: The operating room nurses described experiences with patient safety hazards on an organisational, team and individual level. Uncertainties concerning a reliable plan for the procedure and functional reporting, as well as documentation practices, were identified as important. Teamwork and collaboration were described as crucial at the team level, including being respected as valuable, having shared goals and common expectations. On the individual level, professional knowledge, skills and experience were needed to make corrective steps. CONCLUSION: The conditions to support patient safety, or limit complication risk, during joint replacement surgery continue to be at times inconsistent, and require steady performance attention. Operating room nurses make adjustments to help solve problems as they arise, where there are obvious risks for patient complications. The organisational patient safety management process still seems to allow deviation from established practice standards at times, and relies on individual-based corrective measures at the 'bedside' at times for good results.