Knowledge and Attitude of Operating Room Personnel on Standards of Using Electrosurgery in Mazandaran University of Medical Science

Safety is one of the most important dimensions of care that is provided by surgical personnel. The most commonly used tools in the operating room are electrosurgical devices that can be a threat to patient safety. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitude of the operating room personnel in the use of electrosurgery standards in educational and health centers of the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive study, all operating room personnel from the hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences participated in the study. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire consisting of three sections: demographic information, knowledge section including 20 questions and attitude section including 25. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and its reliability was confirmed using the alpha Cronbach’s coefficient (0.71). The results of qualitative and quantitative variables were reported as percentage and average.

The findings showed that the mean age of the subjects was 30.42 ± 8.28 years and 78.35% were women. There was no significant difference between the participants’ demographics and their knowledge and attitude. The mean knowledge of the subjects was 56.44 ± 4.54 and the mean attitude was 112.88 ± 8.03 (P-value <0.05). 52.6% of participants reported that they have not studied the standards for using electrosurgery and 70.1% have not participated in any workshops on the use of electrocautery.

The knowledge and attitude of the operating room personnel in the treatment centers was moderate and not suitable. Considering the potential risks of using electrosurgery such as patient burns and occupational injuries, it is imperative that managers and practitioners pay attention to educational and retraining issues.