Unresolved Occupational Hazard in Operating Rooms: A University Hospital Example

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted out in a descriptive design in order to determine the health problems experienced by the operating room nurses regarding surgical smoke and the methods they use for prevention.
 Methods: The study was conducted with 40 operating room nurses working in a university hospital. The data were collected by a questionnaire form created by scanning the relevant literature and taking expert opinions. Appropriate statistical tests were applied in the evaluation of the data. Ethics committee permission, institutional permission, and written informed consent were obtained from the participants for the study. 
 Results: The mean age of the nurses participating in the study was 38.47±6.47, 90.0% were women, 87.5% were undergraduates, and 70.0% had been working in the operating room for 1-10 years. 70.0% of the employees reported that they had knowledge about surgical smoke, and 30% reported that they received surgical smoke and prevention training. It was determined that 77.5% of the nurses experienced headache, 40.0% cough, 35.0% nausea, and 32.5% respiratory problems due to surgical smoke. 92.5% of the nurses reported that they used an aspirator, 75.0% a surgical mask, 37.5% used saline to protect themselves from surgical smoke. Only 2.5% of the participants stated that they knew that central smoke evacuation systems were used in the hospital. Barriers to not using surgical smoke protection measures by nurses were stated as 82.5% not having smoke evacuation equipment, 37.5% having expensive equipment, 17.5% noisy and 17.5% being considered ineffective. 
 Conclusion: In the study, it was determined that most of the nurses had problems related to surgical smoke, but they did not use preventive interventions effectively. The study findings are similar to the literature. In line with the results, it is recommended to provide training within the scope of occupational health and safety on the harms of surgical smoke and protection from smoke.