BACKGROUND: Operating theatres in any hospital consume a large amount of resources. A well-functioning theatre complex is an important and essential component of a well functioning hospital. . The analysis is based on the socio-economic profile of patients and the time spent in theatre. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study design was used involving a retrospective record review over a one year period (April 2009 to March 2010) was conducted. The variables for the study included, type of operations and their indications, profiles of patients and turn-around time in the theatre. In addition, a comparison between those who had elective and emergency surgery was done with regard to some variables such as profile of patients and turn-around time. The project was initiated after obtaining approval from the head of the department of the North West Provincial Department of Health and University of the Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (Medical). Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained all the time during collection, capturing, and reporting of the information RESULT: A total of 447 cases were performed during this period including 5.6% (25) elective cases and 94.4% (422) emergency cases. The majority of the operations performed at this Hospital included caesarean section and evacuation of uterus. In addition to that there were other procedures such as laparotomy, labial incision, perineorrhaphy, and dilatation and curettage. The type of procedures (elective or emergency) was significantly associated with ethnicity, employment and medical aid status and referral source of the subjects. The majority of the caesarean sections were performed due to maternal indications. More elective caesarean sections were performed for maternal indications (79%) than fetal indications (21%). There was one maternal complication (ruptured uterus) but no maternal mortality during this period. Whereas all the babies were alive after elective CS, there were seven stillbirths after emergency CS. An average of 110 minutes were spent by patients in theatre and at least 33% of the time was spend on the actual operation although there is no significant difference between elective and emergency patients with regard to time spent in the operating room (p = 0.46). Emergency patients took more time (25 minutes) before they were wheeled to theatre which is an area for improvement. The operating theatre was utilised only 5.9% of available time. This suggests that is opportunity to utilise the operating theatre for other cases. CONCLUSION: This is first formal study performed at a district hospital operating theatre in the North West Province. This study assisted in development of understanding of the function of the operating theatre at the General de la Rey Hospital. The findings of this would assist the hospital management to improve its function such as reduction of latent time for emergency patients and conducting more elective procedures.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1975.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences, 2013. / BACKGROUND – District hospitals provides level of care services that are part of the basic service package for district hospitals. Services applicable to district hospitals’ operating theatres include performance of elective and emergency surgical procedures. A study was conducted at Sekororo district hospital to evaluate the functioning of the operating theatre system. AIM: To describe the profile of patients, theatre down time and theatre throughput efficiencies at the district hospital for the period 1 April 2009 – 31 March 2011. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross sectional study based on a retrospective record review. The study setting was Sekororo District Hospital Operating Theatre. The population included records of all operations performed in the theatre during the study period. Theatre utilization was calculated as well as patient throughput to assess the internal operational efficiencies. The throughput of elective and emergency cases were compared. RESULTS: A total of 702 cases were performed during the study period. The majority of cases performed in the operating theatre were maternity cases (caesarean sections). Maternity cases accounted for 602 cases. The most common indication for caesarean sections (CS) is Cephalo-pelvic Disproportion (CPD) (49.2%). For the maternity cases, the majority were emergency cases (84.33%), and 15.67% elective cases. Theatre utilization for this period was 3% (3.6% for 2009/10 and 3.2% for 2010/11). There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) between the average throughput for emergency and elective cases – 25 minutes for emergency cases (confidence interval 20-35 minutes) versus 62.5 minutes for elective cases (confidence interval 38.75 – 78.75 minutes). CONCLUSION: The theatre utilization rate is extremely low for this study period. Patient throughput is much more efficient for emergency cases. Further studies are required to determine resource allocation to the operating theatre that resulted in the low theatre utilization.

No description available.

No description available.

In the first study, a literature review and semi-structured interviews with experienced scrub nurses (n=25) and consultant surgeons (n=9), identified ‘communication’, ‘teamwork’, ‘situation awareness’ and ‘coping with stress’ skills as important skills for scrub practitioners. The second study used focus groups (n=4 groups) of experienced scrub nurses (total n=16 participants) to sort and label the extracted non-technical skill data, from study 1, into skill categories and underlying elements. The focus groups also generated ‘behavioural markers’ describing good and poor performance of those elements. This preliminary taxonomy contained eight categories with 28 underlying elements. An expert panel, comprising two psychologists and a subject matter expert used an iterative process, with reference to the system design guidelines, to refine the taxonomy. The resulting prototype was called the Scrub Practitioners’ List of Intraoperative Non-Technical Skills (SPLINTS) system which had three skill categories – ‘Situation awareness’; ‘Communication and teamwork’; ‘Task management’, each of which had three underlying elements. The third study tested the psychometric properties of the prototype SPLINTS system. Scrub practitioners (n=34) attended a single-day evaluation session where they received training (5 hours) and practice (1 hour) using the SPLINTS system before rating the scrub practitioner’s behaviour seen in standardized surgical video scenarios (n=7) (1 hour). Within-group agreement was acceptable (<i>r</i>_wg &gt;.7) for the three skill categories and for six of the nine elements. Future work will assess the usability of SPLINTS system in the operating theatre environment. This project has provided scrub practitioners with a structured method for training and assessing an important aspect of performance, which could help to reduce adverse events in the operating theatre.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Jeter, Sheldon; Committee Member: Ghiaasiaan, S. Mostafa; Committee Member: Joshi, Yogendra.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 288-310. Also available in print form.

Operating room nursing skills are some of the most demanding skills in the nursing profession. At the moment nurses trained in operating room technique are in very short supply in Ethiopia, due to the exodus of nurses to better working environments with more reasonable payment. This is especially noticeable in one of the state hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as emerged in conversations with the head nurse of the operating room in this hospital about the high turnover rate, as well as the high absenteeism rate amongst the nurses working in the operating room. Nurses working in the operating room also expressed unhappiness in their work environment which could cause them to look for other jobs or to be absent from duty. The nurses were facing numerous problems in their work environment such as work overload due to staff shortage, stress due to shortage of supplies because they are not able to do their job as much as the need requires. The researcher identified the need to explore the challenges that the operating room nurses are experiencing in their work environment. The researcher used the following questions to meet the research objectives: What are the experiences of the operating room nurses in their work environment?; What potential assistance would such nurses need to better cope with the problems they experience in their work environment? The research study aimed to explore and describe the experience of operating room nurses in their work environment and on the basis of the findings to develop guidelines to assist the operating room nurses in coping more effectively with their work environment. The researcher used a qualitative approach with an explorative, descriptive and contextual design. Fifteen registered nurses were selected using purposive sampling. Informed consent was obtained from the participants and permission from the Ethics Committee of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, as well as Yekatit 12 Hospital. Data were gathered using face to face interviews and field notes were taken to determine the experiences of the participants. Data were analyzed using Tesch's method of descriptive data analysis (in Creswell, 2003:13). Two main themes with two sub-themes related to the experience of the registered nurses working in the operating room of the state hospital were identified. Main theme one focused on the non-conducive work environment and it focused on the lack of support from management and the problems experienced in the environment. It was found that OR nurses had good working relationships among the nursing staff. Main theme two focused on the limited training opportunities in OR techniques. The sub-themes described the limited exposure to new technology and the quality of nursing education which the participants felt was not taken seriously in Ethiopia. Based on the identified themes guidelines were formulated to assist the registered nurses working in the operating room of a state hospital in Ethiopia. Utilization of these guidelines should assist the registered nurses to cope more effectively with their work environment. Recommendation were made, further research and limitations identified.