SAFE STAFFING LEVELS AMONG OPERATING DEPARTMENT PRACTITIONERS (ODP) IN THE NURSING DEPARTMENT (Essay Sample)

SAFE STAFFING LEVELS AMONG OPERATING DEPARTMENT PRACTITIONERS (ODP) IN THE NURSING DEPARTMENT Name Course Name and Number Name of Professor Institutional Affiliation Date Submitted Safe Staffing Levels among Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) in the Nursing Department Overview Operating department practitioner (ODP) is one of the critical and new health cadres that give services within the operating theatres that include: recovery, surgery, and anesthesia (Coe and Gould, 2008). ODPs prepare the environment, and the required instruments and equipment to be used for anesthesia, surgery, or recovery patients. Due to the nature of the operations in these healthcare delivery rooms, there is high exposure to hazards that could harm the occupants, including the surgeons, nurses, and the OPDs (Wordsworth et al., 2016). More research should be done on operation department practitioners' safety and job satisfaction globally (Smith et al., 2008). The ODP cadre was created to offer extra support to theatre nurses (Coe & Gould, 2008). Initially, they were referred to as patient handlers or surgeons' box carriers, and the position did not have any specific skill or qualification requirements (Jefree et al. 2021). The demand for cleaners, patient handlers, and the support need for skilled health professionals increased as the demand for ODPs grew. Since introducing the OPDs cadre, several disputes have arisen regarding their job description. The conflict emanates from a view that it duplicates tasks as other cadres can do their roles. Therefore, the cadre still needs to overcome many challenges regarding the safety and availability of safety standards mainly formulated for ODPs (Newsam, 2018). The COVID-19 pandemic posed a lot of health threats to the ODPs. Surgical theatres were responsible for several death cases within the healthcare system. Most health professionals working in the theatre face high death or morbidity risk. Operating Department Practitioners (OPDs) need more attention from human resource management regarding professional development and safety. However, they are recognized healthcare practitioners mandated to control infections in surgical surgery rooms. This study aims to assess the safety standards of OPDs and their association with job satisfaction. The importance of this research is informing public health professional development policy and safety standards in surgical and high-risk areas for OPDs in the United Kingdom. Background Over the years, the roles and responsibilities of ODPs were added to include sterilizing and disinfecting theatres and theatre equipment. Adding commitments was followed by improved training in cementing their roles to fit as operating theatre assistants (Wordsworth et al., 2016). There is a global disparity regarding the specific roles and responsibilities of ODPs. The functions of ODPs keep shifting from facility to facility (Lowes et al., 2020). In some facilities, they are referred to as technicians and are responsible for preparing equipment and the operation area. In some settings, they do what the theatre nurses do, creating duplication of tasks. The recognition of the relevance and importance of ODPs' role in health care should have been taken more politely by the nurses. A chronic conflict exists between ODPs and nurses working in the perioperative environment. The nurses queried about the value of perioperative functions hence feeling threatened. The cadre remained unregulated for a while, becoming another pertinent issue since all healthcare cadres are regulated and clearly define the roles to reduce duplication and increase relevance. The cadre later acquired recognition in 2017 as one of the allied health professions (AHP) by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) (Undre et al., 2006). Operating theatres are high-risk places since there are myriad hazards due to the nature of the operations. Therefore, the safety of the staff and patients is critical and needs proper planning and training. The safety measures include using personal protective equipment (PPEs) and keen attention by the ODPs in carrying out their daily duties. The ODPs need adequate awareness of their working environments' potential hazards and risks. Working in the operating theatre will always have chances. In healthcare facilities, most errors reported occur in operating theatres placing ODPs. The staff and patients working in operating theatres are at high risk of adverse health outcomes such as: contracting infectious diseases such as COVID-19, nosocomial infections, and surgical site infections (Rodger et al., 2022). The result of such risks is an increase in morbidity and mortality. High-risk threats increase the fear among the ODPS, for instance, the COVID-19 era. The fear results from uncertainty regarding recovery, the risk of infecting their family members, isolation, and the possibility of getting admitted to the intensive care unit (Gillespie & Pearson, 2013). Additionally, there is a fear of loss of income and employment (Selou et al., 2021). Safety standards are stipulated and contained in the safety manuals and operating procedures. Although despite such policies, incidences arising from theatre hazards still exist. Methodology Several scholarly published articles and journals related to the subject matter will be utilized. The literature review assignment needs contextualization and a search of relevant and current reports. The criteria for articles, significantly the journal articles were chosen, include The article's authors. The papers used are those written by experts in the nursing field, and their audience is composed of other experts. The articles also report on original research studies or case research. The other aspect is that the articles should be peer-reviewed or refereed. Peer reviewing means the field experts reviewed the article before publication to ensure the procedures' credibility and findings. Additionally, the article should have been written using scholarly language and have full bibliography. Various sources will be used in reviewing the literature related to the subject matter ‘Safe Staffing Levels among Operating Department Practitioners (ODP) in the Nursing Department. The sources include journal articles, textbooks, Dictionaries and encyclopedias, blog posts, commentaries, documentaries, newspaper articles, theses related to the topic of interest, and reports. Most sources will be journal articles since most research experts prefer publishing their work to enrich the scholarly world and add to the knowledge gap. Journal articles also provide up-to-date findings since they frequently receive up-to-date research in various fields. Another advantage of journal articles is the high credibility of the studies, especially for peer-reviewed journals. There are several search engines and databases that provide credible sources. The search engines include Google Scholar and HINARI. The databases include PubMed, Cochrane Library, BMJ Open, health Direct, and Biomed Central. The listed databases provide a wide range of health and medical articles which are free and easily accessible. Additionally, the databases provide original studies ranging from case studies, clinical trials, observations, systematic reviews, cohort studies, and experimental studies. The databases will enable me to search for particular topics and evaluate a wide range of relevant literature. I will use various terminologies and concepts to conduct the searches. Depending on the availability of the relevant literature, I will limit myself to using recent journal articles within five years. Reports will be found by searching on the internet for appropriate words. Essays are usually accessed without any charge and are easily accessible. However, I will limit the number of reports and seek to use credible reports from credible organizations, bodies, or institutions such as World Health Organization (WHO) reports, United Nations (U.N.) reports, or the Ministry of Health. Books provide tangible and credible information; the only limitation is accessibility and the year of publication. Some books are ancient since scholars only publish them sometimes. Additionally, most books are sold and hence not very accessible. Therefore, the number of books will be limited due to the mentioned factors. Old books might need to give relevant information regarding the subject matter. Commentaries and documentaries are accessible through of charge. Moreover, blog posts and dictionaries are readily available on the internet at no cost. The literature will be from the United Kingdom, Australia, and other nations globally. References Abbott, H. and Wordsworth, S., 2014. Improving safety culture: a profession in the fast lane. Journal of Operating Department Practitioners, 2(6), pp.291-295. Barrow, C., 2009. A patient's journey through the operating department from an infection control perspective. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 19(3), pp.94-98. Coe, R. and Gould, D., 2008. Disagreement and aggression in the operating theatre. Journal of advanced nursing, 61(6), pp.609-618. Davey, A. and Ince, C.S. eds., 1999. Fundamentals of operating department practice. Cambridge University Press. Espelita, A.R., 2022. 791 Occupational Therapy in Operating Room An Emerging and Distinct Role in Collaborative Burn Care Practice. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 43(Supplement_1), pp.S201-S202. Gee, A., 2007. Avoiding the use of agency staff in the operating department. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 17(4), ...