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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Principles of Rodent Surgery for the New Surgeon
Published on: January 6, 2011
Nurses' knowledge regarding recommended practices on using surgical attire in operating theatre
Joshua Alayemi1, Wilma Ten Ham-Baloyi1, Sihaam Jardien-Baboo1
1Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nelson Mandela University, North Campus, Gqeberha, South Africa.
Background:
To reduce the risk for surgical site infections, nurses in the operating theatre environment must have knowledge of and adhere to recommended practices regarding the use of surgical attire.
Aim:
To evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on nurses' knowledge related to recommended practices regarding the use of surgical attire in operating theatre.
Setting:
Operating theatres in two public and two private hospitals in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
Methods:
An educational pilot study, using a quasi-experimental, two-group pre- and post-test design, was conducted. A convenience sample of n = 85 nurses was purposively allocated to a control group and an intervention group. An existing educational intervention consisting of an interactive training session, brochures based on the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses' (AORN) guidelines and a summary of these guidelines was implemented for the intervention group, while the control group received only the summary of the guidelines. Data were collected through self-administered pre- and post-test questionnaires from March 2019 to August 2019.
Results:
The overall knowledge score for nurses in the intervention group post-intervention improved with a large significance (p ≤ 0.000 and Cohen's d = 1.26).
Conclusion:
The intervention has shown potential to improve the knowledge related to recommended practices of nurses in operating theatres regarding the use of surgical attire.
Contribution:
This pilot study encourages the implementation of the intervention on the use of surgical attire but requires further development and a wider implementation to measure its impact, and access to resources, enhancing and sustaining its success.
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