Abstract:

Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the experiences of nursing students who practice in the operating room as a clinical practice area. Subjects and Method: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with 144 students studying in the nursing department of a university and performing clinical practice in the operating room for the first time. The data were collected with a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. Descriptive tests and chi-square test were used in the analysis of the data. Results: The mean age of the students participating in the study was 20±1.95 (n=144) and 79.9% (n=115) of them were women. It was determined that 97.9% of the students were curious about the operating room environment before the operating room practice, 77.8% were excited, and 33% were afraid of having a negative experience. Most of the students (79.9%) stated that they understood the concept of asepsis-antisepsis better with the operating room practice. The students who practiced accompanied by the training nurse (%65.3) received support from the staff to adapt to the environment, communicated more easily with the nurses, asked questions, and received information (p<0.05). The 50.7% of the students found the two-day practice period in the operating room to be short. It was determined that 47.2% of them wanted to be an operating room nurse because the operating room was an active, exciting, interesting and independent place. Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that the students had positive and negative experiences during the operating room practice and the practice performed with the mentor nurse increased the positive experiences of the students. It is recommended that the students should be prepared before the operating room practice and that the practice should be carried out with a mentor.

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