"Playing with Surgical Instruments (PlaSurIn)" game to train operating room novices how to set up basic surgical...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Nursing Training
• Game-Based Learning

Background:

• Traditional training methods are common in perioperative nursing.
• Game-based training offers an alternative approach for skill development.
• Novice nurses require effective methods for learning surgical instrument setup.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and validate a Portuguese game,
• Playing with Tweezers
• , for training novices in surgical instrument setup.

Main Methods:

• A validation study involved translation, reconciliation, and evaluation phases (face, content, construct validity).
• The game underwent forward-backward translation and expert review.
• Student performance metrics (time, score, errors) were analyzed for construct validity.

Main Results:

• The adapted game, renamed
• Playing with Surgical Instruments (PlaSurIn)
• , demonstrated high face and content validity.
• Experts and intermediate users achieved higher scores and fewer errors than novices.
• Construct validity was supported by performance differences across skill levels.

Conclusions:

• The
• PlaSurIn
• game is a validated virtual training strategy.
• This game effectively prepares novice surgical nurses in basic surgical instrument setup.