Nursing students’ awareness about educational environment in the surgical theatre of a military hospital

Abstract

Background: The surgical theatre educational environment during nursing school may influence student’s comfort and satisfaction which in turn affect the patient safety. Objectives of this study were to assess the awareness of nursing students on the learning environment in surgical theatre of a military hospital and to find any differences with respect to their age and academic years. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at CMH Lahore Institute of Nursing from December 2018 to March 2019. Undergraduate nursing students were included in the study after taking their written consent. A self-administered inventory called ‘Mini-Surgical Theatre Educational Environment Measure’ (‘Mini-STEEM’), on 5-point Likert scale consisting of 13 items was distributed to all participants. Data was analysed using SPSS-20. Results: Questionnaire was filled by 124 undergraduate nursing students, with 100% response rate. Two items regarding trainer scored highest mean (4.2) while the lowest scored item (3.0) was about the pressure of anaesthetists on trainer. The total score of the questionnaire was 48.35 which was more than the midpoint score (39). The domains regarding atmosphere in surgical theatre and operating experience scored 76.7% and 75.8% respectively. The domain about discrimination scored lowest percentage of 69% among three subscales. Final-year nursing students scored highest mean score followed by second year (p<0.001). Conclusion: The nursing students were comfortable with the educational environment of surgical theatre for their surgical education. However, nursing students were concerned regarding anaesthetists pressurizing trainers to operate themselves instead of nursing students to reduce anaesthetic time.

Pak J Physiol 2019;15(4):42?5