Understanding compliance with protective eyewear amongst peri-operative nurses: a phenomenological inquiry

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to obtain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of peri-operative nurses’ use of protective eyewear in the operating room (OR), and to understand nurses’ attitudes and beliefs towards protective eyewear.

Design: Data was collected via one-on-one interviews with eight peri-operative nurses working in a private hospital in Melbourne. The data collected underwent rigorous thematic analysis using an extended version of Colaizzi’s method of phenomenological inquiry.

Setting: The participating site is a large, private, metropolitan hospital that has 420 beds and employs 1,100 nurses and midwives, of which 31% are peri-operative nurses.

Subjects: Eight registered nurses were recruited. They were all female, aged between early 20s to early 60s, ranging in experience in the peri-operative setting from more than six months to approximately twenty years.

Main outcome measure: The investigation of the phenomenon of peri-operative nurses’ use of protective eyewear in the OR with information to help further understand peri-operative nurses’ attitudes and beliefs towards protective eyewear.

Results: For nurses, being compliant with protective eyewear is a combination of intrapersonal, environmental and professional factors, including protecting self, risk appraisal, beliefs, previous experiences, fear, comfort and functionality, professionalism, leadership, forgetting versus routine, time pressure and accessibility, alternatives and patient-centred care.

Conclusion: Individual nurse’s beliefs towards protective eyewear and its impact on work, life and patient care influence their decision to use protective eyewear. Peri-operative nurses are more compliant when they are well informed and are in a supportive work environment.