Prevention of surgical fires: A certification course for healthcare providers

10^th Global Nursing & Healthcare conference

August 18-19, 2016 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Marquessa Fisher

University of Saint Francis, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

An estimated 550-650 surgical fires occur annually in the United States. Surgical fires may have severe consequences including burns, disfigurement, long-term medical care or death. This project introduces a standardized certification program for the prevention of surgical fires. A pilot study was conducted with a convenience sample of 10 anesthesia providers who participated in the education module. The overall objective was to educate surgical team members and to prepare them to become certified in surgical fire prevention. Upon completion of the education module, participants completed the 50-question certification examination. Mean pretest scores were 66%; none of the participants had enough correct responses (85%) to be considered competent in surgical fire prevention. Mean posttest scores were 92.80% will all participants answering at least 85% correct. A paired sample t-test showed a statistically significant increase in knowledge; t(9)=11.40, p=0.001. Results of the pilot study indicate that this course can remediate gaps in surgical fire prevention knowledge for providers. Their poor performance on the pretest suggests that many providers may not receive sufficient instruction in surgical fire prevention.

Biography :

Email: mdfisher@sf.edu