This study describes how the potential sources of errors and error prevention in operating room (OR) teams are experienced by Finnish, American and British nurses. The data were collected by interviews and analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Results consisted of categories demanding teamwork practice, shared responsibility in teams and organized teamwork. The demanding practice category included fear of errors, turnover in teams, overtime work and emotional distress as potential factors leading to errors in OR teamwork. Shared responsibility emphasized how the familiar teams, safety control and formal documentation of errors prevented errors. At the organizational level, the prevention of errors required scheduling of work, good management, competency and a reasonable physical environment. In order to improve safety in OR teams, recognition should be given to the balance of error-making and learning from them. More effective ways in reporting incidents should be adopted and overall reporting systems should be developed in Finnish OR teams.

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The aim of nursing students' operating room (OR) clinical practice is to gain experience of the perioperative nursing process and to develop skills related to the practice within OR teams in a variety of situations. However, it has previously been problematic to get enough practical experience within OR teams because of the general urgency, e.g. rapid turnover and flow of emergency cases, and preceptors' multiple responsibilities related to their simultaneous need to work as team members. This study describes how Finnish, British and American nursing students (n = 30) experienced learning about teamwork during their OR placement period. The critical incident technique was used for data collection, and data were analysed using a descriptive phenomenological method. Three types of teamwork emerged based on the students' perceptions: functional manifestation of OR teamwork, gaining OR team membership and technical orientation of OR teamwork. The findings are discussed in relation to OR practice, education and research on ways to improve teamwork while maintaining a satisfactory OR learning context and stimulating interest in perioperative nursing.

The health problems of clients and patients are becoming more and more complex. The health sector is undergoing continuous changes, involving increasingly diverse health environments and situations. As a result, there is an increasing need for multiprofessional cooperation, communication and the combination of knowledge and expertise. This enables meeting today's challenges through the special competence of different professionals and producing good and safe care for clients and patients (Labrague, McEnroe-Petitte, Fronda,

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Background: The prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) is one of the most important subjects in healthcare education. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish healthcare students’ perspectives on learning about HAIs using a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This study is part of the Erasmus+ project ‘Educating students for innovative infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in healthcare settings’ (InovSafeCare). Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional research design was used to describe healthcare students’ perspectives on learning about HAIs using the InovSafeCare MOOC (ISC-MOOC). The participants (N = 135) were students recruited from partner institutions. The project group developed a semi-structured questionnaire that was used for data collection, containing questions of technical and pedagogical usability. The data were analyzed by statistical methods and content analysis. Results: The ISC-MOOC facilitated healthcare students’ independent learning and promoted their knowledge of HAI prevention and control. Study materials were easy to use (84%), and the media of the study materials were of high standard (83%). Some technical problems (14%) were also identified with the use of the materials. The study materials were relevant (70%) for IPC learning but should also be provided in different languages. Conclusion: The MOOC will strengthen the role of the students as future healthcare professionals and will also be usable for those healthcare professionals who need to update their skills with today’s HAI requirements. MOOC should also be translated into other languages other than English.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are one of the major concerns worldwide, posing significant challenges to healthcare professionals’ education and training. This study intended to measure nursing students’ perceptions regarding their learning experiences on HAI prevention and control. In the first phase of the study, a cross-sectional and descriptive study with a convenience sample composed of undergraduate nursing students from Portugal, Spain, Poland, and Finland was conducted to develop the InovSafeCare questionnaire. In the second phase, we applied the InovSafeCare scale in a sample of nursing students from two Portuguese higher education institutions to explore which factors impact nursing students’ adherence to HAI prevention and control measures in clinical settings. In phase one, the InovSafeCare questionnaire was applied to 1326 students internationally, with the instrument presenting adequate psychometric qualities with reliability results in 14 dimensions. During phase two, the findings supported that Portuguese nursing students’ adherence to HAI prevention and control measures is influenced not only by the curricular offerings and resources available in academic settings, but also by the standards conveyed by nursing tutors during clinical placements. Our findings support the need for a dedicated curricular focus on HAI prevention and control learning, not only through specific classroom modules, innovative resources, and pedagogical approaches, but also through a complementary and coordinated liaison between teachers and tutors in academic and clinical settings.