The opinions of general surgery and operating room nurses, general surgeon and anesthesiologists regarding the i̇mplementation of the enhanced recovery after surgery (eras) protocol in colorectal surgery

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of general surgery and operating room nurses, general surgeons, and anesthesiologists regarding the implementation of the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) Protocol in colorectal surgery and the barriers to its implementation. Method: This descriptive study was conducted in a university hospital, a training and research hospital affiliated to the university, and two public hospitals. The universe of the study consisted of general surgery and operating room nurses, general surgeons and anesthesiologists in four different institutions. 272 healthcare professionals who voluntarily participated in the study and had written consent were included in the research sample. Data were collected face-to-face between March 2020 – July 2021 via FORM I-Personal Information Form and FORM II- ERAS Protocol in Colorectal Surgery Evaluation Form. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0 package program in computer. Research data were tested with appropriate parametric/non-parametric tests (using chi-square, t-test for independent groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests) after normality tests in comparative analyzes as well as descriptive analyzes using percentage and frequency. Results: In the study, 70.1% of the participants were women, 55.5% were nurses, 23.9% were general surgeons and 20.5% were anesthesiologists. It was observed that 73.1% of the participants had not heard of the ERAS Protocol before, and eight (72.73%) of the 11 participants who answered the application of the ERAS Protocol steps in colorectal surgery in their clinics answered as "Yes". In colorectal surgery, it was determined that the participants did not express an opinion in line with the protocol recommendations in most of the pre-, intra- and post-operative steps of the ERAS Protocol. In addition, the participants reported the obstacles to the implementation of the ERAS Protocol steps as in colorectal surgery as the lack of knowledge of the protocol (18.13%), the problems caused by the multidisciplinary work (16.58%), the resistance to change (12.44%), and the lack of institutional support (11.40%). Conclusion: It has been determined that the ERAS Protocol in colorectal surgery is not known enough by health professionals, they do not express an opinion in line with the protocol recommendations in pre-, intra- and post-operative applications, and the barriers to implementation are multifactorial. Key words: Colorectal surgery, ERAS, nurse, general surgeon, anesthetist