Surgical Smoke Evacuation at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital
Voiceover
Presenter(s)
Kathryn Grieb, Cara D'Angelo, Hannah Poremba
Abstract or Description
Surgical smoke is produced as a byproduct of heat-generating devices that are used during the perioperative period and has numerous implications for the health of perioperative staff and patients. To help address the consequences of surgical smoke, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has established the Go Clear award, a designation recognizing hospitals that have taken the necessary steps to mitigate the effects of surgical smoke. UPMC Magee-Women’s Hospital has recognized the implications of surgical smoke and expressed interest in attaining the Go Clear award. An informational survey was sent to all perioperative staff to determine the knowledge level and interest among staff, as a first step toward applying. The survey included three sections where staff reported their demographic information, and rated their level of knowledge about surgical smoke and interest in learning more about the Go Clear award. In preliminary analysis, a total of 65 people participated: 48 nurses, 3 physicians, and 10 surgical techs. The majority of participants demonstrated minimum understanding and knowledge of surgical smoke, as well as the AORN Go Clear award. The majority of the participants were willing to learn more about the consequences of surgical smoke and implement necessary changes in order to protect themselves. Results of this survey suggested that there is a lack of education on surgical smoke for perioperative staff. An education program should be developed including the harmful consequences of surgical smoke, the goals of the AORN Go Clear Award Program, and existing evidence-based solutions.
Comments
Amber DelPrince4 years ago
Hi! I found your presentation really informative because I've never heard of surgical smoke before. When I read you poster, I ultimately had two questions. The first is about the relationship between the years of experience and the knowledge of surgical smoke, did the respondents that had more experience tend to have more knowledge and those with less experience have less knowledge, or was it more varied? Also, in the discussion section you noted that the knowledge of associated consequences was objectively measured, I'm assuming that is with the survey you sent out, but I was wondering if you could go into more detail on how that was done and what types of questions were asked?
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Hi Amber! Thank you for taking the time to read our poster, we appreciate your questions! To answer your first question, our data did not show a correlation between more experience and more knowledge of surgical smoke. The answers to our knowledge level survey questions were varied amongst respondents. To answer you second question, we mostly used a Likert scale to get a better understanding of Magee-Womens Hospital surgical staffs' opinions and feelings on the surgical smoke issue. In our survey, we included 10 demographic questions to understand what type of surgical staff we were surveying and their experience in the surgical environment and 15 questions using the Likert scale to collect data on the surgical staffs' knowledge level and willingness to partake in the AORN Go Clear Award. Included at the end of the survey were a few open-ended questions to see if surgical staff understood the consequences of surgical smoke and how to mitigate the harmful effects. <br /><br />I hope I answered your questions! Let us know if you have any other questions or comments.
Melissa Kalarchian4 years ago
Your poster provides great background on the problem of surgical smoke and why we should care about it. I am impressed that you were able to partner with Magee Womens Hospital to collect a large number of surveys. Your recommendations lay a solid foundation for working towards evidence-based solutions!
Dr. Kalarchian, Assoc. Dean for Research, School of Nursing
Dr. Kalarchian, Assoc. Dean for Research, School of Nursing
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Thank you, Dr. Kalarchian!
Pamela Spigelmyer4 years ago
Ladies, excellent job on your presentation! You bring to light an important topic and initiative of the organization to achieve the Go Clear award. Did you find differences between discipline or role and the reported knowledge of surgical smoke (i.e physician versus nurse versus techs)? It seems you have a majority that are willing to implement change! This is a good finding.
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Thank you, Dr. Spigelmyer! We did find a slight difference between disciplines and reported knowledge of surgical smoke. The surgeons and residents reported the highest knowledge of surgical smoke. In preliminary analysis, we had mostly registered nurses and surgical techs respond and saw a lower level of knowledge on surgical smoke amongst respondents. In the final data, 21 surgeons and 9 residents completed the survey from the time we first analyzed the data, and we saw a large increase in knowledge level on surgical smoke. The reported data indicated that 39.3% of respondents strongly agreed that they understood what surgical smoke is and 40.7% of respondents somewhat agreed that they understood what surgical smoke is.
Mary Kay Loughran4 years ago
What an interesting project and one that many that work in healthcare have never heard of surgical smoke. Do you think that MWH will move forward with educating their staff and making the necessary changes to mitigate the effects of surgical smoke? Will you be involved in those efforts? Thank you for such an interesting presentation.
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Thank you for viewing our poster, Dr. Loughran! We do believe that Magee-Womens Hospital will move forward with applying for the Go Clear award program and following the recommendations that we have come up with. Since the three of us are graduating in May 2021 and leaving the Pittsburgh area, we are not sure if we will be involved in these efforts. It has been a pleasure to work with the surgical staff at Magee-Womens Hospital, and we are very fortunate to have had this opportunity to assist them in their efforts in attaining the Go Clear award!
Manjulata Evatt4 years ago
Hello presenters,
I am impressed with your data on effects of surgical smoke on staff and patients. This is strong evidence to educate staff and patients on harms of surgical smoke. I am glad you partnered with Magee Hospital. I was aware of respiratory and ocular infections due to surgical smoke but hepatitis and dermatitis is new to me. Thank you for doing an excellent job. Dr.Evatt
I am impressed with your data on effects of surgical smoke on staff and patients. This is strong evidence to educate staff and patients on harms of surgical smoke. I am glad you partnered with Magee Hospital. I was aware of respiratory and ocular infections due to surgical smoke but hepatitis and dermatitis is new to me. Thank you for doing an excellent job. Dr.Evatt
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Thank you, Dr. Evatt!
Melanie Turk4 years ago
Really good assessment of staff knowledge and needs regarding surgical smoke, Hannah, Kathryn and Cara, and excellent poster!
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Kathryn Grieb4 years ago
Thank you, Dr. Turk!
Taylor Neiberg4 years ago
Hi! This is a very interesting presentation. I had no idea surgical smoke was an issue before reading this presentation. Do you know when was the GoClear award established? I am curious when it was created to see how long of an issue surgical smoke was before education came about.
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