Determining Individual Workload Perceptions and Malpractice Tendencıes Among Operating Room Nurses

Abstract

Objective: To determine the workload perceptions and malpractice tendency of nurses working in the operating room.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 92 operating room nurses from 3 provinces of Turkey. The data were analyzed by using the numbers, percentages, the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal Wallis test.Results: The mean age of the nurses was 35.19±6.11; 50% of the nurses had operating room working duration of 1-5 years, and 78.3% of the nurses had weekly working hours more than 40 hours. A total of 33.7% of the nurses stated that they came across with one malpractice case. The mean “Individual Workload Perception Scale(IWPS)” score of the participants was 98.82±9.39, and the mean “Malpractice Tendency Scale(MTS)” score was 225.59±12.75. There was a statistically significant difference between the communication subscale mean scores of the participants on the MTS according to their time in the profession. There were statistically significant differences between the gender of the participants and the overall IWPS mean score, the managerial support subscale mean score, and the workload subscale score. Statistically significant differences were detected between the working time of the nurses and the managerial support subscale and the workload subscale scores. Significant differences were detected in the participants’ mean scores on the intention to stay at work subscale of the IWPS according to the operating room working time of the participants.Conclusion: Teamwork and effective communication in the operating room are two critical factors in ensuring patient safety. Eventually, approaches to be developed to foresee and prevent malpractice in operating rooms may ensure a safe perioperative process. The job descriptions of the operating room nurses should be reviewed. Training should be planned to strengthen team communication. Patient safety culture should be expanded in the health care team through monitoring and work flow charts.