Surgical counting interruptions in operating rooms

BACKGROUND

Operating rooms are complex working environments with high workloads and high levels of cognitive demand. The first surgical count which occurs during the chaotic preoperative stage and is considered a critical phase, is a routine task in ORs. Interruptions often occur during the first surgical count; however, little is known about the first surgical counting interruptions. This study aimed to observe and analyse the sources, outcomes, frequency of the first surgical counting interruptions and responses to interruptions.

METHODS

A retrospective observational study was carried out to examine the occurrence of the first surgical counting interruptions between 1st August 2023 and 30th September 2023. The data were collected using the "Surgical Counting Interruption Event Form", which was developed by the researchers specifically for this study.

RESULTS

A total of 66 circulating nurses (CNs) and scrub nurses (SNs) were observed across 1015 surgeries, with 4927.8 min of surgical count. The mean duration of the first surgical count was 4.85 min, with a range of 1.03 min to 9.51 min. In addition, 697 interruptions were identified, with full-term interruptions occurring an average of 8.7 times per hour. The most frequent source of interruption during the first surgical counts was instruments (N = 144, 20.7%). The first surgical counting interruptions mostly affected the CN (336 times; 48.2%), followed by the ORNs (including CNs and SNs) (243 times; 34.9%) and the SN (118 times; 16.9%). Most of the outcomes of interruptions were negative, and the majority of the nurses responded immediately to interruptions.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of the first surgical counting interruption is high. Managers should develop interventions for interruptions based on different surgical specialties and different nursing roles.

Characteristics of elderspeak communication in hospital dementia care: Findings from The Nurse Talk observational study

BACKGROUND

Elderspeak communication is typically viewed as patronizing and infantilizing by older adults and can lead to resistive behaviors in persons living with dementia. Little is known about the presence of elderspeak communication in hospitals in the United States. Understanding this phenomenon in the hospital setting is needed in order to improve hospital dementia care.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the Nurse Talk study was to (1) describe attributes of elderspeak use in hospital dementia care and to (2) determine what characteristics are associated with nursing staff use of elderspeak communication with hospitalized patients with dementia.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional observational study design was used to collect and analyze audio-recordings of nursing staff during care for hospitalized patients with dementia.

SETTING

Three hospital units in one Midwestern university hospital in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 53 staff nurses and nursing assistants that provided direct care to 16 patients with mild or more severe dementia recruited from October 2019 through mid-March 2020.

METHODS

Eighty-eight care encounters were audio-recorded and coded for elderspeak communication using the Iowa Coding of Elderspeak scheme to determine the frequency and characteristics of elderspeak communication. A linear mixed effects model was used to determine what characteristics were associated with elderspeak and the frequency of elderspeak use by nursing staff to hospitalized patients with dementia.

RESULTS

Over a quarter (28.7%) of all nursing staff speech directed towards patients with dementia constituted elderspeak and nearly all (96.6%) care encounters included some elderspeak. Particularly common attributes of elderspeak were minimizing words and mitigating expressions, childish terms and phrases, and collective pronoun substitution. A statistically significant interaction was identified between staff role and age (95% CI: -0.02, -0.00, p = .008) in predicting the frequency of elderspeak use, indicating that elderspeak was used more often by older staff nurses, whereas the age of nursing assistants remained constant across elderspeak use. Statically significant effects for delirium and length of stay were also demonstrated. Elderspeak use was 12.5% higher with patients with delirium (95% CI: 0.02, 0.23, p = .025) and increased 1.5% for each additional day the patient with dementia was hospitalized (95% CI: 0.00, 0.03, p = .035).

CONCLUSIONS

Elderspeak is present and pervasive in the acute care setting. Interventions targeted towards older staff nurses and nursing staff from hospital units that care for patients with delirium and longer lengths of stay are needed.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

This study identified that nursing staff are frequently using elderspeak (infantilizing speech) with hospitalized patients with dementia. @claireshaw_phd @IowaNursing.

Surgical nurses' responses to worry: A qualitative focus-group study in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND

Hospital nurses observe and respond to deterioration using the 'National Early Warning Score 2'. Surgical nurses are highly engaged in the early recognition of and response to deterioration. Responses to deterioration are based on deviating vital signs, while nurses also act on subjective indicators like worry. Scientific literature and (inter)national guidelines do not mention any information about acting upon worry.

OBJECTIVE

To gain an in-depth understanding of the actions nurses on surgical wards undertake to generate an appropriate response to nurses' worry when the 'National Early Warning Score 2' does not indicate deterioration.

METHOD

A qualitative focus-group study with surgical nurses working at a hospital in the Netherlands. Data was collected by focus-group interviews supported by vignettes and analysed thematically.

FINDINGS

Four focus-group interviews with a total of 20 participants were conducted between February and April 2020. Two sequential themes emerged: 'Searching for explanation and confirmation' and 'Responding by actively applying nursing interventions'. Nurses gathered additional information about the patient and searched for a reference point to place this information in perspective. Nurses also approached others for co-assessment and verification. However, nurses faced barriers in calling for medical assistance. They felt physicians did not take them seriously. After gathering additional information, nurses responded by applying nursing interventions to comfort the patient.

CONCLUSION

Nurses mainly try to formalise an in-depth understanding of their feeling of worry to convince a physician to accurately treat the patient. Spending much time on a search to this understanding leads to delays in escalating care.

A study of the relationship between nurses' experience, structural empowerment, and attitudes toward computer use

Objective

This study examined the relationship between structural empowerment and nurses' experience and attitudes toward computer use.

Methods

This study was conducted using a cross-sectional quantitative design. A total of 184 registered nurses from four hospitals in Jordan participated in the current study. Data were collected using a demographics questionnaire, the Conditions for Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II), and the Pretest for Attitudes toward Computers in Healthcare (PATCH).

Results

The median of experience in years among nurses was 5.0, ranging from one to 26 years. The mean score for the attitudes toward computer use was 61.90 ± 11.38. Almost half of the participants, 45.11%, were in the category of "feel comfortable using user-friendly computers." The participants' mean average of the total structural empowerment was 12.40 ± 2.43, and the values for its four subscales were: opportunity 3.57 ± 0.87, resources 2.83 ± 0.85, information 3.06 ± 0.79, and support 2.95 ± 0.86. The frequencies analysis revealed that most participants had a moderate level of empowerment (n = 127, 69.02%). The bivariate correlation between nurses' experience and attitudes toward computer use was significant (r = -0.17, P < 0.05). The relationship between the total structural empowerment score and attitudes toward computer use was positive but weak (r = 0.20, P < 0.01).

Conclusion

The results indicated that more experienced nurses are more reluctant toward computer use. However, creating an empowering work environment can facilitate nurses' attitudes toward computer use.

Reliability and validation of the Arabic version of the Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire-II

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Conditions for Workplace Effectiveness Questionnaire-II-Arabic Version (CWEQ-II-AV), which measures structural empowerment among nurses. To enhance the usability and credibility of the CWEQ-II among researchers within Arabic-speaking countries, a valid and reliable Arabic version of the measure is necessary.

METHODS

A cross-sectional research design was used. From December 2018 to June 2019, 275 nurses working in 4 hospitals participated in the study. Reliability was assessed by examining internal consistency and split-half reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to evaluate the factor structure of the CWEQ-II-AV.

RESULTS

The psychometric properties of the CWEQ-II-AV were excellent regarding the six-factor model (opportunity, information, resources, support, formal power, and informal power). The results showed the following fit indices meet the criteria set a priori: comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.96, root mean square of error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.06, and χ 2/df = 2.08. Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.95 for the total questionnaire and ranged between 0.83 and 0.89 for the individual subscales. The split-half reliability was 0.91 for the total questionnaire and ranged from 0.83 to 0.87 for individual subscales.

CONCLUSION

This study provides evidence that CWEQ-II-AV is both a reliable and valid measure of structural empowerment among Arab nurses.

Patient safety culture and handoff evaluation of nurses in small and medium-sized hospitals

Objectives

This study was conducted to investigate the current status of handoffs, perception of patient safety culture, and degrees of handoff evaluation in small and medium-sized hospitals and identified factors that make a difference in handoff evaluation.

Methods

This is a descriptive study. 425 nurses who work at small and medium-sized hospitals in South Korea were included in our study. They completed a set of self-reporting questionnaires that evaluated demographic data, handoff-related characteristics, perception of patient safety culture, and handoff evaluation.

Results

Results showed that the overall score of awareness of a patient safety culture was 3.65 ± 0.45, the level was moderate. The score of handoff evaluation was 5.24 ± 0.85. Most nurses experienced errors in handoff and most nurses had no guidelines and checklist in the ward. Handoff evaluation differed significantly according to the level of education, work patterns, duration of hospital employment, handoff method, degree of satisfaction with the current handoff method, errors occurring at the time of handoff, handoff guidelines, and appropriateness of handoff education time (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

For handoff improvement, guidelines and standards should be established. It is necessary to develop a structured handoff education system. And formal handoff education should be implemented to spread knowledge uniformly.

Frequency and barriers of reporting workplace violence in nurses: An online survey in China

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the reporting of workplace violence against nurses and the reasons why they did not reported.

Methods

A self-designed questionnaire regarding workplace violence and reporting was used to conduct a cross-sectional survey on nurses who submitted a manuscript to a Chinese nursing journal from 2016 to 2017. A total of 324 nurses agreed to participate in this study and 266 participants from 165 hospitals in 72 cities returned questionnaires.

Results

A total of 172 nurses (64.7%) experienced violent incidents during the past year. Of these incidents, 45.5% were reported; and the reporting rate of physical assaults (69.0%) was higher than those of verbal abuse (36.9%), threatening behavior (51.7%), and sexual harassment (60.0%). Formal reporting accounted for 25.4% (15.4% in written form and 10.0% through a computer-assisted reporting system). Almost half of the nurses (49.6%) stated that the hospital had no reporting system or they were uncertain about the reporting system. For reasons of not reporting, 51.9% of the nurses were unware of how and what types of violence to report, and 50.6% of the nurses believed that the hospital paid greater attention to patients rather than staff.

Conclusions

A clear definition of workplace violence and reporting procedures, establishment of a facile system for reporting, and supervisory support following a reporting are urgently required.

A study of the relationship between professional values and ethical climate and nurses' professional quality of life in Iran

Objective

To explore the relationship between nursing professional values and ethical climate and nurses’ professional quality of life.

Methods

The present study is a descriptive, cross-sectional work in which 400 nurses from various wards of hospitals in the south-east of Iran were studied. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of four sections: demographics, Nurses’ Professional Values Scale-Revised (NPVS-R), the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS), and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL).

Results

The total mean scores for professional values were 105.29 ± 15.60. The total mean score for the ethical climate was 100.09 ± 17.11. The mean scores for the indexes of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress were 45.29 ± 8.93, 34.38 ± 6.84, and 32.15 ± 7.02 respectively. The relationships between professional values and the indexes of compassion satisfaction (r = 0.56), burnout (r = 0.26), and secondary traumatic stress (r = 0.18) were found to be positive and significant (P < 0.001). Also, the relationships between ethical climate and the items of compassion satisfaction (r = 0.60, P < 0.001), burnout (r = 0.15, P = 0.002) were found to be positive and significant.

Conclusion

An understanding of nurses’ perception of professional values and improving the ethical climate at work can help nursing administrators identify more effective strategies toward increasing compassion satisfaction and lessening burnout and work-related stress.

The experience of transition from nursing students to newly graduated registered nurses in Singapore

Objectives

To investigate the experience of newly graduated registered nurses (NGRNs) in Singapore following their initial 6–12 months of transition from nursing student to registered nurse.

Methods

This mixed-methods study consisted of two phases. In the first phase, data were collected via the administration of the online survey to 30 NGRNs. The questionnaire contained 42 items of the four-point Likert scale survey. In the second phase, a focus group interview was conducted with 5 NGRNs to gather complementary information regarding the major findings from the first phase.

Results

The survey revealed despite most NGRNs (80%) in this study expressed overall satisfied with their transition, the item score was (2.97±0.61) out of 4, the majority (83.3%) also perceived their transition to professional practice being stressful, the item score was (3.07±0.74) out of 4.Three themes emerged from the interview, ‘personal transition experience’, ‘professional transition experience’, and ‘organizational transition experience’, which are entwined to construct overall NGRNs’ transition experiences.

Conclusions

This study reaffirms the theory-practice gap phenomenon. This signifies the need for closer collaboration between educational, healthcare industry and regulatory stakeholders to examine and address factors that influence their transition experience to better support them for workforce readiness.

A blueprint to establish a four-bed obstetric critical care unit in the labor ward of a central hospital

Patients at risk of organ dysfunction or with established organ dysfunction should be referred to central or tertiary-level hospitals. However, even in central hospitals, intensive care unit (ICU) beds are often unavailable, which may contribute to maternal deaths. One pragmatic solution is to establish obstetric critical care units (OCCUs) in the labor wards of central hospitals; however, specific guidance on how to do this is limited. In addition, globally applicable standards of care are lacking, with uncertainty regarding who should lead obstetric critical care. In this article the specific OCCU infrastructure, equipment and human resources required to establish such units in central hospitals in low- and middle-income countries are described in sufficient detail for easy replication. Admission and discharge guidelines and operational recommendations that include quality indicators are also provided.

Factors affecting the integration of immigrant nurses into the nursing workforce: A double hermeneutic study

BACKGROUND

Variations in nursing practice and communication difficulties pose a challenge for the successful integration into the workforce of immigrant nurses. Evidence for this is found in cultural clashes, interpersonal conflicts, communication problems, prejudiced attitudes and discrimination towards immigrant nurses. While the evidence shows that integrating immigrant nurses into the nursing workforce is shaped by factors that are socially constructed, studies that examine social structures affecting workforce integration are sparse.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to examine interplaying relationships between social structures and nurses' actions that either enabled or inhibited workforce integration in hospital settings.

DESIGN

Giddens' Structuration Theory with double hermeneutic methodology was used to interpret 24 immigrant and 20 senior nurses' perceptions of factors affecting workforce integration.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified from the data. These were: (1) employer-sponsored visa as a constraint on adaptation, (2) two-way learning and adaptation in multicultural teams, (3) unacknowledged experiences and expertise as barriers to integration, and (4) unquestioned sub-group norms as barriers for group cohesion. The themes presented a critical perspective that unsuitable social structures (policies and resources) constrained nurses' performance in workforce integration in the context of nurse immigration. The direction of structural changes needed to improve workforce integration is illustrated throughout the discussions of policies and resources required for workforce integration at national and organisational levels, conditions for positive group interactions and group cohesion in organisations.

CONCLUSION

Our study reveals inadequate rules and resources used to recruit, classify and utilise immigrant nurses at national and healthcare organisational levels can become structural constraints on their adaptation to professional nursing practice and integration into the workforce in a host country. Learning from each other in multicultural teams and positive intergroup interaction in promoting intercultural understanding are enablers contributing to immigrant nurses' adaptation and workforce integration.