A national study of perioperative nurse education in two technologies

In this study, perioperative RNs (n = 122) from hospitals throughout the United States were surveyed to explore how and what they initially learned about the different types of technology they use in direct patient care and the consequences of using these technologies. The study revealed that the most frequently identified method participants used to learn technologies (i.e., count procedure, electrosurgical unit [ESU]) was via instruction from other staff members, and RNs were more likely to learn more facts about the count procedure than about the ESU. Although the count procedure was significantly more likely to cause stress to RNs (P = .000), an inaccurate count procedure was no more likely to result in patient harm than incorrect operation of an ESU.