The Effect of Operating Room Simulation on Students’ Hidden Anxiety During Operating Room Internship

The operating room internship is associated with stress and anxiety and using simulations may reduce this anxiety. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of operating room simulation on students’ hidden anxiety during operating room internship.

This study was a quasi-experimental research. All students of a class (n=17) were simple randomly assigned to a simulation and a control group. The students in the simulation group were trained by simulation method prior to the internship program. The control group received routine and traditional training. The students’ anxiety level was measured before the intervention, the first and the last day of the internship using Spielberger's hidden anxiety questionnaire. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U and Friedman tests at a significance level of 0.05.

Mean anxiety scores (total=80) before the intervention, the first and the last day of internship were 43.7±75.64, 41.5±00.12, and 37.62±2.32 in the simulation group and 42.11±6.23, 40.88±6.8 and 42.55±5.07 in the control group, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.321) in the anxiety scores before the intervention and the first day of internship, while a significant difference was found between the two groups in the anxiety scores on the last day of the internship program (P=0.021, t=-2/078).

Exposing the operating room students to a simulated environment before the internship cannot reduce their anxiety on the first day of internship, but it can lower their anxiety during the internship period and significantly reduce anxiety at the end of this period.