Contribution of applied urologic laparoscopy course on the education of scrub nurses: a survey study

Objective: In this study, experience and thougths of scrub nurses who attended “7th Applied International Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery Symposium and Course’’ on this programme were evaluated.

Materials and methods: The 25 scrub nurses who attended the course were asked to complete pre-course questionnaire which consists of 8 questions to assess their experiences in laparoscopic surgery. Nurses were given theoretical training on laparoscopic and robotic surgery, and attended to certain practical applications. At the end of the course, the nurses were asked to fill post-course questionnaire which consists of 7 questions to assess the efficiency of the course and to evaluate whether their expectations were satisfied or not.

Results: Pre-course mean anxiety score of the scrub nurses for open and laparoscopic surgery applications were 3.8±2.1 (range 1-10) ve 9±3.5 (range 1-9), respectively. It was detected as 3.6±1.4 (0-5) and 5.1±2 (2-8), respectively on post-course. There were no difference between pre- and post-course mean anxiety scores of the nurses for open surgery (p=0.065), but the anxiety scores for laparoscopic surgery was statistically lowered on post-course (p=0.032). The course programme was scored as perfect and sufficient by 11 nurses (44%) and 14 nurses (56%), respectively.

Conclusion: Through the theoretical and practical training that was given during the course, nurses were informed about laparoscopic surgery, and their self-confiendence increased in this area.