Effects of a QR Code-Based Cesarean Section Surgical Instrument Management Program on Operating Room Nurses' Perception of Instrument Preparation at a Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

The importance of surgical instrument preparation in the operating room requires operating room nurses to have knowledge and expertise in preparing surgical instruments. There should be standardized practice guidelines for surgical instrument preparation so that all nurses follow the same standard procedures for instrument preparation in the operating room to prevent errors caused by inadequate preparation of surgical instruments. As an administrator, the researcher recognizes the importance of developing a knowledge program for cesarean section surgical instrument management through the use of QR codes. This quasi-experimental research with a two-group, pre-post design aimed to compare the perception scores for surgical instrument management among operating room nurses between an experimental group that received the QR code-based cesarean section surgical instrument management program and a control group that received the conventional cesarean section surgical instrument management program. The experimental group received routine teaching through on-the-job supervision. The sample consisted of 66 professional operating room nurses from two hospitals who divided into experimental and control groups of 33 nurses each. The research instruments included a QR code-based cesarean section surgical instrument management program and a questionnaire on the perception of surgical instrument management. The instrument quality showed a content validity of 0.80 and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.96. Data analysis used descriptive statistics, including frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and inferential statistics, including independent t-tests and dependent t-tests.

The research findings showed that, after participating in the program, the experimental group had overall mean scores for perception of surgical instrument management at a very good level, which was significantly higher than the control group at the .05 statistical significance level. Additionally, the experimental group's mean scores after the experiment were at a high level and significantly higher than before the experiment at the .05 statistical significance level.  This research indicates that nursing administrators in operating rooms should continuously apply human resource development concepts, particularly for new nurses or nurses rotating between departments. They should implement QR code-based cesarean section surgical instrument management programs in units to improve safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of nursing care.