Perceptions of the surgical team regarding the competencies of the operating room nurse and factors affecting the competence

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the perceived competence of operating room nurses and the opinions of the surgical team, regarding the competence of nurses and the influencing factors with a deep understanding. Method: This convergent parallel mixed-methods study was carried out with members of the surgical team working in 17 hospitals including three public, two university, one city, one education and research, and ten private ones located in city center of Burdur, Isparta and Antalya provinces. The sample of the quantitative dimension of the study consisted of 224 operating room nurses working in authorized institutions, and the qualitative dimension consisted of 54 team members including 21 operating room nurses, 21 surgeons, 3 anesthesiologists, and 9 technicians. The data were collected between May 1th, 2020 and August 20th, 2020 using Quantitative and Qualitative Personal Information Forms, Perceived Perioperative Competence Scale (PPCS-R) and Semi-structured Interview Form. Quantitative data were evaluated using the SPSS 24.0 package program, using descriptive, ANOVA, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H tests, and qualitative data were evaluated through descriptive and content analysis. The data were analyzed independently and interpreted based on analytical generalization in the discussion section. Results: 81.7% of nurses in the quantitative dimension of the study are female, 63.4% hold undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, 38.8% work only as a scrub nurse. The nurses' perception of perioperative competence is high (160.86±25.37). Three contexts, nine themes and 34 sub-themes were obtained in the competence areas of operating room nurses as technical, safety and non-technical. Two main contexts as organizational and individual, four themes and 26 sub-themes were reached in the factors affecting competency acquisition. The team members emphasized that the expected competence in operating room nurses is achieved through the master-apprentice relationship. Conclusion: Developing formal training programs specific to operating room nursing is an important requirement in order to prevent unprofessional problems occur due to master-apprentice model. It is considered important to develop the curriculum content based on the competence areas, taking into account the organizational needs. Keywords: Surgical team, operating room nursing, competence, competency, mixed method, perception, competence areas, technical and non-technical skills