Theatre nurses

Outbreaks of disease have been caused by those with artificial fingernails. In 2004 there was an outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae among premature babies in a US intensive care unit, caused by bacteria from a nurse s artificial nails. A few years previously it was Pseudomonas aeruginosa that threatened several newborn babies in a New York hospital and this was traced to the same cause. In Canada three patients who had had surgery on their spinal cord developed Candida infections of the spinal disks and this was traced to an operating theatre technician who had artificial nails. An intensive care unit in Oklahoma City saw 16 patients die as a result of contracting Pseudomonas aeruginosa from two nurses who had artificial nails. Thankfully such outbreaks are now extremely rare. 

I greeted him in Czech he raised his hand but did not answer. I took forceps and a few swabs and tried to see whether the wound was deep. He did not stir, he did not flinch, although it must have hurt him. Meanwhile a nurse had telephoned Professor Dick, a German, asking him to come to the theatre. 

Textile materials used in the operating theatre include surgeons gowns, caps and masks, patient drapes, and cover cloths of various sizes (Fig. 5.7). It is essential that the environment of the operating theatre is clean and a strict control of infection is maintained. A possible source of infection to the patient is the pollutant particles shed by the nursing staff, which carry bacteria. Surgical gowns should act as a barrier to... 

McDonald, R., Waring, J., Harrison, S., Walshe, K. and Boaden, R. 2005. Rrrles and guidelines in clinical practice A qualitative study in operating theatres of doctors and nurses views. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 14,290-94. 

Story-telling was used to spread the word about successful interventions where, for example, a scrub nurse had constructively challenged a consnltant and thwarted a potential incident. A newsletter was prodnced called It s complicated which shared good practice and enabled theatre teams to learn from each other. 

A possible source of infection to the patient is the pollutant particles dropped by the nursing staff, which carry bacteria. Single-use nonwoven products in the operating theatre have been adopted to prevent these sources of contamination of the patient. 

During the simulation-based team training, eight half-day sessions were mn for a total of 59 participants. The sessions involved surgical and anaesthetic specialist nursing staff (n = 21 and n = 12 respectively), anaesthetic specialists and trainees (n = 8 and n = 6), theatre technicians (n = 8) and surgical trainees (n = 4). A separate evaluation of the half-day program was provided by 18 of the 59 participants (response rate of 31 per cent) a summary is provided in Table 19.1. 

As in aviation, medical persoimel often work as teams, in operating theatres, emergency rooms and trauma units. In this respect, a team of doctors and nurses... 

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