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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2021; 48(03): 305-309
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2020.01893
Clinical Practice and Education
Idea and Innovation

A hands-on microsurgery course for nurses

Mala Satkunanantham 
Department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
,
Sreedharan Sechachalam 
Department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
› Author AffiliationsThis article was presented at the European Federation of Societies for Microsurgery on April 3-5, 2014, in Barcelona, Spain.
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Microsurgical procedures are time-consuming and sometimes fatigue-inducing. However, a skilled assistant and scrub nurse can help surgery be performed more smoothly and rapidly. Three microsurgical simulation courses were held for perioperative nurses at our institution. Each course consisted of two lectures and two practice microsurgical sessions, and was evaluated with a post-course survey. The respondents all felt that their knowledge of microsurgical instruments, sutures, microscope set-up, and microsurgical skills had improved following the course. Many felt that their ability to predict what the surgeon would request during a microsurgical case improved, and that they were able to handle instruments and sutures better. The nurses also reported improved confidence in assisting with microsurgical procedures and tolerance of the long operative time in some microsurgical cases. Based on our experience, a basic microsurgery course for nurses can play a significant role in training effective and competent microsurgical scrub nurses.

Keywords

Microsurgery - Medical education - Nurses

We would like to acknowledge our Nursing Officer for assisting with the distribution and collection of surveys.




Publication History

Received: 30 September 2020

Accepted: 25 February 2021

Article published online:
21 March 2022

© 2021. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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