Examining the views of operating room nurses and physicians on the relationship between professional values and professional communication

Purpose Professional communication and professional values are two basic concepts in operating rooms and should be studied more closely in view of the nature of work and the high circulation of patients in operating rooms. Methods The present work is a descriptive-analytic study with a cross-sectional design. The sample was 603 operating room physicians and personnel selected from the public hospitals of Shiraz. The data collection instruments were the 41-item professional communication questionnaire and the 26-item professional values scale. Results The results showed that the operating room nurses and physicians perceived the status of professional communication and professional values to be satisfactory. As for professional communication, the participants’ perception of the domains of mutual respect and trust (p ≤ 0.001), teamwork (p ≤ 0.001), ethical competence (p ≤ 0.017), and workplace conflicts (p ≤ 0.001) was significant. As for professional values, only the dimension of care (p ≤ 0.016) was perceived to be significant. Moreover, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between professional communication and professional values (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion Considering the significance of the concept of professional communication and its connection with professional values, it is recommended that operating room personnel and physicians receive systematic education about professional communication and the harms of destructive attitudes as part of their academic education and afterwards.

Evaluation of Knowledge and Practice of Radiographers and Operating Room Personnel about Radiation Protection: Importance of Training Courses

Purpose: Awareness of personnel who are professionally involved with ionizing radiation on the principles of radiation protection is very important; especially for operation room personnel, because they do not receive radiation protection training during their university education in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge and practice of radiographers and operating room personnel about the principles of radiation protection. Materials and Methods: A validated researcher-made questionnaire was used and the study was conducted on 328 medical staff in 2021. Factors such as age, gender, university degree, working years, occupation, and knowledge and practice about radiation protection were recorded. The collected data were analyzed by independent t-test and Pearson correlation analysis using SPSS software. Results: The results of the study showed that age, gender and university degree have no significant effect on the knowledge and practice of radiographers and operating room personnel (p > 0.05). The knowledge and practice of radiographers were significantly higher than operating room personnel (p < 0.05). With regard to working years, there were significant relationships with the knowledge of personnel (p= 0.034), and with practice (p= 0.038). There was a significant correlation between passed training courses of radiation protection and knowledge (p=0.012), and practice (p=0.033). There was a significant correlation between knowledge about radiation protection and practice (p=0.002). Conclusion: It is necessary to encourage staff with lower working years and operating room personnel to participate in radiation protection courses and workshops. It can be suggested to add training programs about radiation protection in university education or in-service education for operating room personnel.

799. A Pseudo-Outbreak of Pseudomonas fluorescens Infections

Background Pseudomonas fluorescens is a water-borne pathogen that has been associated with outbreaks from transfusion of contaminated blood products or medical equipment. Our institution had a cluster of cultures that grew an uncommonly encountered microbe P. fluorescens within a period of one week. This prompted an internal investigation. We summarize the investigational process that led to the resolution of this pseudo-outbreak. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of surgical and non-surgical patients with cultures positive for P. fluorescens from July 2nd to July 8th 2020. Baseline patient characteristics, clinical course, laboratory data, use of blood-associated products, and microbiology cultures were analyzed. Results Eight patients were identified with positive tissue cultures for P. fluorescens. Among those, 5 specimens (62.5%) were from osteoarticular sites (1 prosthetic hip, 1 prosthetic knee, 1 right foot, 1 sternum, and 1 vertebral source). One culture (12.5%) was obtained from a sacral soft tissue wound. Two tissue specimens (25%) were collected from respiratory sites (1 lung tissue and 1 bronchoalveolar lavage). No association with specific surgical personnel or operating room was identified. During routine specimen processing, a small amount of sterile normal saline is added to the conical grinder prior to culture preparation. It was discovered that a non-sterile normal saline had been inadvertently utilized during that step. These eight tissue specimens were subsequently reprocessed with sterile solution; P. fluorescens was not re-isolated. Specimen processing protocols were reinforced. Adjustment of antimicrobial therapy was made accordingly without reported subsequent adverse clinical outcomes. Conclusion A multi-faceted team approach in collaboration with Infection Prevention, Infectious Diseases, Surgery, operating room personnel, and Microbiology identified an unintended breakdown in sterile laboratory protocols which resulted in a cluster of falsely positive cultures. An increased incidence of infection with an uncommon pathogen initiated a prompt investigation that resulted in the identification of a pseudo-outbreak event. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Examining the Views of Operating Room Nurses and Physicians on the Relationship between Professional Values and Professional Communication

Purpose: Professional communication and professional values are two basic concepts in operating rooms and should be studied more closely in view of the nature of work, the high circulation of patients in operating rooms. Methods: The present work is a descriptive-analytic study with a cross-sectional design. The sample was 603 operating room doctors and personnel selected from the public hospitals of Shiraz. The data collection instruments were the 41-item professional communication questionnaire and the 26-item professional values scale.Result: Results shows the operating room nurses and doctors were found to perceive the status of professional communication and professional values to be satisfactory. About professional communications, the participants’ perception of the domains of mutual respect and trust (p≤0.001), teamwork (p≤0.001), ethical competence (p≤0.017), and workplace conflicts (p≤0.001) was significant. About professional values, only the dimension of care (p≤0.016) was perceived to be significant. Moreover, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between professional communication and professional values (p≤0.001). conclusion: Considering the significance of the concept of professional communication and its connection with professional values, it is recommended that operating room personnel and doctors receive systematic education about professional communication and the harms of destructive attitudes as part of their academic education and afterwards.

BIOMONITORING OF SEVOFLURANE EXPOSURE IN ANESTHESIOLOGIST

ABSTRACTSevoflurane is used by anesthetists for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. This causes the anesthetist to get daily exposures. This will be a potential hazard for exposed operating room personnel, especially anesthetists. The adverse health effects of sevoflurane as hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic and neurotoxic in the human body can be a risk for anaesthetists. Biological monitoring can be done by measuring the levels of sevoflurane and its metabolites or by looking at biomarkers for their effects on health effects. The aim of this study was to seek a literature review on the biomonitoring of sevoflurane exposure in anaesthetists. We searched the literature review using the PRISMA method in PubMed and Google scholar using the following keywords "occupational disease" "chronic effects" "anaesthetist" "sevoflurane exposure" "inorganic fluoride" "biomarkers" previously using the term MeSH and combined with Boolen "OR" and AND". We obtain 75 articles taken from the database, excluded 35 articles, and selected 5 articles. The results of the review articles showed that there were health effects, especially on liver and kidney function in chronic exposure. Biological monitoring can be undertaken by detecting sevoflurane and its metabolites in the urine during work and function of the liver and kidneys. The evidence for biological monitoring as surveillance in anaesthesiologists remain inconsistent due to limited studies. We recommend to measure sevoflurane in ambient air using a hierarchy of controls, such as elimination, replacement, engineering, administrative and personal protective equipment. We need to undertaken environmental and biological monitoring in order to acquire a safe and healthy work environment. Keywords: sevoflurane exposure, occupational health, anesthesiologist