Aim: Robotic surgery nurses have important roles in the successful surgical operations. This study aimed to determine the working conditions of the robotic surgery nurses in Turkey.
Methods: The descriptive study was conducted between May 2020 to January 2021. Nurses working in robotic surgery for at least one year in 32 hospitals where robotic surgery is performed in different eight cities, were included in the study (n=90). Data were collected with the Sociodemographic and Occupational Characteristics Form of Nurses electronically.
Results: The mean age of the robotic surgery nurses was 32.03±6.52 years and 80% of them were female. 50% of the nurses didn’t receive any education about robotic surgery, 50% of the nurses stated that the nursing roles were not clear, 44.4% of the nurses consider their level of knowledge partially sufficient, 58.9% of them did not have a written procedure, 76.7% of them feeling anxious during the surgery. There were a statistically significant difference between the age (p=0.046), gender (p=0.005), marriage (p=0.013), experiencing problem during surgery (p=0.007), self-assessment knowledge (p=0.038), had flow charts/checklists (p=0.010), regular in-service education (p=0.022) and nurses' feeling anxious during surgery.
Conclusion: In this study, more than half of robotic surgery nurses experienced problems during surgery. The most common problems were lack of knowledge, ambiguity of roles and responsibilities, staff shortages and lack of English language skills. In order to ensure patient safety in robotic surgery, it is recommended to develop national and institutional procedures, eliminate ambiguity regarding the role of nurses, determine nurse competencies and invest in the development of nurses.