Use of the surgical safety checklist in the operating room: Operating room nurses’ perspectives

OBJECTIVE: To determine the opinions of operating room nurses towards the Surgical Safety Checklist(TR) (SSC(TR)) and to determine applications for using SSC(TR) in operating rooms. METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 102 nurses working in the operating rooms of a state hospital and a university hospital in the Afyonkarahisar province. Descriptive statistics method were used for data analysis. RESULTS: It was found that all operating room nurses knew the SSC(TR) and that they had a positive opinion regarding the necessity of the SSC(TR). However, most of the participants stated that the SSC(TR) was not applied effectively in the operating room. CONCLUSION: The results obtained from the study show that changes focusing on the development of a culture of patient safety (PS) and team collaboration in operating rooms must be made in order to apply SSC(TR) consistently and properly.