Date of Conferral
5-15-2024
Date of Award
May 2024
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Nursing
Advisor
Janice Long
Abstract
With an ongoing shortage of operating room nurses, novices may be hired into circulator positions. Over 50 million people will undergo surgery in America this year, and many will be cared for by circulators with less than five years of experience. Little is known about how this burgeoning group of circulators perceive and experience quality and safety. In this qualitative descriptive study, the perceptions of quality and safety were explored in nurses who completed a postgraduate perioperative curriculum embedded with quality and safety competencies. Nurses were viewed through Benner’s characteristics of nurse competence and Bloom's domains of learning framed interpretations of QSEN competencies. Using semi-structured, remotely-conducted interviews, the perceptions of five early career circulators were obtained about quality and safety. Verbatim data transcription was accomplished with Otter.Ai and NVivo was used to manage data. Following Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analytic approach, interview data were inductively coded and themed across six phases. Six themes were generated: I am accountable for safety; teamwork can influence safety; experiences changed my behaviors; quality care is patient-focused and outcome-oriented; internal and external factors influence quality and safety; and the circulator role is integral to patient quality and safety. All nurses were knowledgeable about safety but lacked skills for quality measurement and improvement. Findings indicated some success for decades-long social change initiatives for healthcare improvement however further research is needed to understand diversities and commonalities in knowledge, skills, and attitudes among other early career circulators as well as those at mid- and late-career stages.
Recommended Citation
Gilbert, Gilda H., "Early Career Nurses’ Perceptions of Quality and Safety in the Operating Room" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15733.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15733
