A theatre nurse is a person with specialized training who assists in the operating room during surgical procedures (Blomberg, 2015, 361-368). Their primary concentration is on operations and surgeries, and they work closely with the team doing the activities. Academic training for theatre nurses refers to all structured activities aiming at imparting knowledge, skills, information, and expertise to nurses (Knight, 2014, 63). The knowledge gathered is extremely beneficial because it may be used to improve nurse theater performance or other patient service delivery (Bogossian, 205, 377-388). Theater nurses do face difficult situations during their working time. They do work for long hours, and in most times they work while standing. Such work situations can drain the nurses physically and also mentally. It results in exhaustion, workplace burnouts, lack of proper rests, lack of adequate sleep (sleeping disorders) and blood pressures. Furthermore, when nurses are stressed, they find it difficult to make viable decisions during the theater operations. Many nurses even when they outside the theater room, they find it difficult to make informed decisions and choices due the piled up stress (Zhou and Gong, 2015, 96-106).
In the research contacted by Knight and others, the results are that, theater nursing is stressful. They argue that such stress is as result of the number of the patients they are attending to, lack of adequate time to attend to the patients and more so the changes in the working environment (Knight, 2014,63).
Due to stress affecting nurses at their work, the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Nursing discovered that theater nurses’ performance could be negatively impaired by the stress (American Journal of surgery, 2011, 24-30). The university then decided to introduce training sessions to reduce such stress. They have firm belief that academic training can contribute to reducing the pressure problem (Gong and Zhou, 2014, 1). In academic training to deal with stress, Katie Hammond Holtz, who is a psychologist and low-stress relaxation teacher, claims that theater nurses and leaders should be taught on various things. One is the mind setting; here nurse has to position their minds into the work settings. They also need training in their walking and movement styles in the theaters. Training in deep relaxation methods is also encouraged (Gursoy, 2016, 495-503).
Usha says that nurses need to be trained on mindfulness settings to deal with such stress. Conscious setting helps to improve their concentration on the theater operations. Theater nurses need to be academically prepared on stopping and pausing from time to time to help in relaxing their minds (Usha, P., 2016).
Studies show that theatre nurses practicing mindfulness in their activities can cope up with stresses at the workplace quickly. They experience low levels of exhaustion, decreased rumination, improved life satisfaction, and enhanced relaxation.
When theater nurses are stress-free, patients do benefit from it in that; they can receive quality services. Academic training in theater nursing is critical in reducing stress levels in nurses, and therefore it should be encouraged. As discussed above, there exists a positive correlation between the academic training and the performance of the nurses. Such theoretical trading is fatal in eliminating stress. Stress-free nurses can deliver their best during operations.
Academic Training and Theater Safety
Security in the theater is very is very fatal and deals with eliminating risks. Academic training helps to enhance such safety and ensure that patients are well protected as well as the nurses themselves. In theater environment, the nurses, operating teams, and the patients are the key parties that must be involved in every operation taking place in the theater room. Their safety needs to be guaranteed. Attainment of the security can only be obtained via academic training. Theater nurses being in charge of the theater room safety need to undergo academic training to equip themselves with adequate knowledge and skills regarding the safety. In ensuring safety, theater nurses need to be trained on how to be careful, how to apply common sense in different situations requiring different attentions and the most important part on how to eliminate hazards or risks at the workplace. During the training sessions, theater nurses are provided with safety program that expands their knowledge (Dougherty and Lister, 2015).
Conflicts Facing Theater Nurses
Conflicts do frequently occur in the operating room. It results in adverse consequences if not well-taken care. It leads to increased levels of theater nurse turnover, the decrease in patient satisfaction and dysfunctional teamwork. Many types of research that have been done up to date have shown that academic training can by much for help to reduce conflicts that arise in the theater room. When the conflicts are properly solved, it results to improved teamwork within the concerned organization, increased theater nurse productivity leading to increasing patient satisfaction. Skills and strategies for ensuring proper conflict management in the theater room can only be achieved by undertaking the nurses through proper academic training. Theater nurse conflicts are as a result of lack of clarity in guidelines issued (failure to understand the expectations), poor communication amongst the involved parties, unfavorable changes within the organization, differences in personality, conflicts of interest and lack of precise definition of the jurisdictions (Aberese-Ako, 2015, 0135129).
Academic training helps in reduction of these theater conflicts. During the school training, proper communication skills are taught. All nurses undergoing academic training must study, sit and pass well the paper on Communication Skills (Braaf, 2015, 1874-1884. The Communication Skills unit well equips the nurses with proper communication skills that help to avoid workplace conflicts (Bezemer, 2016, 361-372).
When theater nurses are in academic training, their jurisdiction within the job is well defined and explained there. They can understand their boundaries and conflicts, the dos and don’ts during their work. Such knowledge obtained during training is crucial because it ensures that nurses do not trespass their boundary limits during their working time and in that, workplace conflicts cannot arise (Dougherty and Lister, 2015).
Change is inevitable. Therefore it must occur. Through academic training, the idea of changes in organizations is well addressed. Nurses are equipped with adequate knowledge on how they can accept changes in their working organizations and on how to respond to changes that are not favorable to them. Understanding organizational changes are crucial and serve to minimize any form of conflicts that may arise at the workplace. Academic training provides various skills that can be used to address by the form of conflict emerging in the theater room.
Theatre nursing is a profession, and the whole academic training is based on pure professionalism. Academic training equips the nurses with adequate skills and knowledge on how to maintain their professionalism during their work. Code of ethics in theater nursing is well taught, inclusive of how to deal with conflicts of interest. In any professional work, the workers are not allowed to prefer their interests to those of the organization and the parties being served (Hinde, 2016, 251-253). By adhering to these academic training, tutorials makes sure that the nurses do not enter into conflicts with the patients they are taking care of and also with the organization that has given them the job (McMahon-Parkes,2016,202-208).
People are different, think and act differently due to personality differences. This is the key cause of conflicts in the workplace. When nurses are exposed to academic training, this issue is highly dealt with to ensure that nurses acquire adequate skills on how to relate with others during their operations. This is based on the assumption that theater work is teamwork and people must interact with each other. In the endeavors to eliminate conflicts arising as a result of personal differences, nurses are taught on how to handle the situation.
Conflicts arising at the workplace are very dangerous. They result in bullying, failure to share vital information that might be very useful in solving patient’s life and even physical confrontations. Well trained nurses do understand the adverse consequences relating to conflicts, and therefore, they work as much as possible to avoid the occurrence of conflicts in their operations.
The fact is that conflict cannot be avoided, but they can be managed appropriately if only the concerned parties undergo proper training to develop appropriate skills. Experts do firmly hold that, understanding and managing conflicts is something that can be learned through academic training. When the theater nurses are well trained, it will be difficult to experience conflicts in their workstations (Al-Ali, 2016, 83-89). Safety will be guaranteed in that all vital information concerning the patient’s lives will be delivered appropriately and promptly. No form of conflict will ever be experienced. Al these result to safety and more so improving the psychological conditions of the nurses (Wilson and Walker, 2017, 109-111).
Violence and Aggregation Facing Theater Nurses
Operating rooms are a high tense environment as they involve many work teams. There is a need of proper working relationship of all parties involved. Theater nurses do play a vital role in reducing this tension as they act as intermediaries between the patients and the patients (Ball, C., 2017). Academic training has been proven to be a proper source of skills needed in the theater operations. Well trained nurses know how to relate well with the physicians as well as the patients and this helps to avoid violence and aggregations arising during their work time. Research carried in this field, indicated that most of the violence & aggregations and verbal abuse were as a result of shocks and disgust among the theater nurses (Al-Ali, 2016,83-89). The study further proposed that such forms of issues can only be handled effectively via specialized training of nurses that they develop skills and strategies on how to accommodate fully such verbal abuses at the workplace (Aberese-Ako, 2015).
Theatre Nurse Safety
Theatre nurse safety is critical as it does not only benefit the nurses themselves, but also the patients. Nurses need to have adequate rests and also to be healthy to deliver well during their duties. Physical and psychological satisfactions are also key determinants of nurses’ safety (Finnegan, 2015, 104-112).Certain risks/hazards have been found to affect the safety in the operating room. Theatre nurse long working hours lead to physical, mental, chemical contaminations and other issues. Again, they result to reduced time for meals and exercises. Stressed nurses may opt to smoke, taking alcohol amongst other drugs and substance abuse. Well trained nurses can very easily cope with such difficult situations as they have got all the adequate skills and knowledge required (Frestam et al. 2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have seen that theater nursing is not an easy job. Nurses undergo various challenging and complex situations as they perform their duties. Some of the difficulties they endure through include; conflicts, violence and aggregations, risks/hazards associated with theater operations, miscommunication, stress, lack of adequate sleeping and leisure hours, long working hours while standing, disagreement patients and physicians amongst many other issues. Many types of research that have been contacted relating to theater nurses and how to improve their safety and performance delivery have admitted that theater nursing is not an easy job. However, the studies have proposed that such problems facing theater nurses can only be managed and addressed appropriately by taking the nurses through academic training. It is only academic writing that can equip the nurses with appropriate skills and knowledge to respond positively towards such problems. There exist a positive relationship between the school training and the competency of the nurses. Competent theater nurses have the capabilities of handling any theater nursing-related issue correctly. Academic training serves to enhance or other improve the skill level of the theater nurses. Competent theater nurses, in turn, use this skill in improving their psychological conditions, safety, and service delivery (Freeling, 2015, 24). Therefore, it is clear that there exist a positive correlation between academic training and the levels of the nurse theater competence, security and health service delivery. Theater nurses should try as much as possible to undergo through academic training to enhance their competency.
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