Our most important strength in the pandemic period: operating room nurses
The last session of the webinar series, co-organized by Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Izmir University of Economics (IUE) and Turkish Surgical and Operating Room Nurses Association, took place with the participation of experienced nurses from different hospitals. Executive Nurse İlknur Yayla from Directorate of Nursing Services, Cardiovascular Operating Room Supervisor Nurse Gökçen Köker, Operating Room Nurse Özer Toksoy, and Operating Room Supervisor Nurse Fatime Çetin participated as speakers in the session moderated by Prof. Filiz Öğce, Dean of IUE Faculty of Health Sciences, and the President of Turkish Surgical and Operating Room Nurses Association. Arrangements process.
The seminar addressed the management of the new normalization period in the field from the perspective of the nurses in charge of the surgical branches and in charge of the unit, and the arrangements made for the pandemic period. Guest speakers gave important messages to 316 participants, including nursing students, academics and nurses working in the hospital at the “New Normalization and What Awaits Surgery in This Period?” titled event carried out through the blackboard collaborate infrastructure of Izmir University of Economics.
Executive Nurse İlknur Yayla from Directorate of Nursing Services said, “We must learn to live with this disease, and ensure the correct management of resources during this period. Cooperation between operating room nurses and the surgical team is our most important strength in the pandemic period. Managers need to make health professionals feel valued and motivate working in operating rooms.”
Providing information about the arrangements made during the operation process, Yayla said, “Although there are guides and manuals published by the Ministry of Health, this process has been a game-changer for us managers. We made different plans for pre-operative planned surgeries and emergency surgical interventions; we try to manage this process by providing a multidisciplinary working environment."
We should raise more awareness in the society
Cardiovascular Operating Room Supervisor Nurse Gökçen Köker said, “Nursing students, academics and those of us working in the hospital should use our educator role to raise awareness in the society about the pandemic period.”
Stating that the pandemic period has changed our culture, Operating Room Nurse Özer Toksoy said, "Health professionals should spread the pandemic culture to the society."
Operating Room Supervisor Nurse Fatime Çetin said, “As operating room nurses, we loved surgical masks, now we need to abandon surgical masks and get used to the use of N95 masks. While everyone says that they should love masks, individual and institutional solutions should be found for the burnout of healthcare workers in this period.”