Effect of Training on the Attitude and Knowledge of Teamwork Among Anesthesia and Operating Room Nursing Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: Teamwork in operating room is necessary to ensure patient’s safety and medical practices outcomes. Owing to the importance of teamwork training to nursing students, the current study aimed at investigating the effect of training on the attitude and knowledge of anesthesia and operating room nursing students to teamwork. Methods: The current quasi-experimental study was conducted from March to October 2015 in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Forty-five anesthesia and 15 operating room nursing students with a mean age of 22.26 ± 0.88 years were divided equally into the experimental and control groups. Data were collected before and 2 months after the intervention, using the Persian version of TeamSTEPPS teamwork attitude questionnaire and a researcher made teamwork knowledge test (each with 30 items). The intervention was a 2-session training workshop on teamwork and its strategies, each lasting for 4 hours. The training was performed by lecture, scenarios and videos, and group discussion. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics, paired t test, independent t test, and chi-square. Results: The total mean score of the experimental group on teamwork attitude significantly differed after the intervention (117.5 ± 7.01) compared with those of the pre-intervention (111.83 ± 7.22) and control group (109.5 ± 9.6) (P < 0.001). Furthermore, a significant difference was also observed in the mean scores of all attitude domains, except for mutual support. The mean score of teamwork knowledge increased significantly after the intervention (19.8 ± 3.44), when compared with those of pre-intervention (14.5 ± 3.33) and control group (14.53 ± 3) (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Training improved participants’ overall teamwork attitude in 4 out of its 5 domains (but not in mutual support) and the knowledge about teamwork. Therefore, nursing training should mostly focus on the improvement of supportive behaviors among students in clinical settings.