The healthcare environment is always fraught with moral issues and challenges for all members of the healthcare team, including nurses as the largest group of service providers in the healthcare system (Rasoal et al., 2017). Due to their continuous attendance to the patients at their bedside, nurses have a major effect on the quality of and patients' satisfaction with healthcare services (Rohde & Domm, 2018;Zamanzadeh et al., 2017). Adherence to ethical principles contributes to the provision of high-quality nursing care (Rahnavard et al., 2021).Commitment to ethics in healthcare constitutes the core of nursing values (Eskandari et al., 2016), and the World Health Organization (WHO, n.d.) has emphasized the significance of professional behaviour in accordance with healthcare values and ethics (Organization).Although ethics has long been closely associated with the nursing profession, it has classically received attention since the foundation of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1899, such that the first ethical codes for nurses were compiled and published by ICN in 1953(Stievano & Tschudin, 2019. The American Nurses Association (ANA) considers ethical codes as part of the principles of nursing profession and mandates ethical commitment in any relationship, even with nursing students (Fowler, 2017;McCrink, 2010).
Background
Surgical smoke (SS), which is produced by the use of high-temperature devices for cutting and coagulation of tissue during surgical procedures, is considered a serious threat to the health of operating room (OR) staff due to the presence of hazardous substances and possibility of transmitting various infections such as HPV, HIV, COVID-19 and so on. This study was conducted to determine the Attitude, preventive practice and perceived barriers among perioperative and anesthesia nurses toward surgical smoke hazards.
Methods
In this cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted at hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (Iran) in 2021, 262 perioperative and anesthesia nurses were included by stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and an SS questionnaire consisting of questions on attitude (17 item), practice (8 item), and barriers (13 item). Collected data were analyzed using SPSS16.
Results
The mean attitude and preventive practice scores (49.52 ± 12.36 and 15.8 ± 2.05, respectively) of the operating room nurses were reported at moderate and weak levels, respectively. There was a direct and significant relationship between attitude and practice scores (
r
= 0.129,
P
= 0.019). The main barriers to the prevention and dealing with the hazards of SS in ORs were reported in management (3.68 ± 1.06) and equipment (3.24 ± 0.66) dimensions, respectively.
Conclusion
It is recommended to adopt strategies to improve the attitude of OR staff regarding the preventive measures against surgical smoke hazards. Moreover, appropriate equipment and support of managers should be provided by explaining the policies and guidelines to prevent the complications of surgical smoke.
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