British Anesthetic & Recovery Nurses Association (BARNA),

The South African Society of Anesthesiologists (SASA) guidelines

Patient safety is a major concern of every person on the surgical team,” said Susan M.
Dabu-Bondoc, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology, Yale University School of
Medicine, New Haven, Conn. “For the physician anesthesiologist, anticipation, timely
recognition and early management of medical concerns that arise in the immediate
postoperative period should prevent complications. A thorough preoperative
assessment of the patient’s characteristics, judicious anesthetic planning and
knowledge of the nature of the procedure remain equally valuable in reducing risks of
complications in the post-anesthetic unit or recovery room.” (GA) nurses contributions
play a main role too in preventing complications of the postoperative patients.

These complications may in the worst-case scenario lead to further treatment after the
surgery, such as intensive care unit care or further hospital stay, though through
monitoring and preventive procedures the risk can be reduced, stated by Hadder 2013.

Hospital in the public sector in Gauteng serves a very great extend population, providing
an extensive service, and performing a countless number of anesthetics annually.
According to a pilot study to determine the profile of recovery room nurses in
Johannesburg hospitals

. In a study conducted in private hospitals in Northern Gauteng regarding post-operative

airway emergencies, nurses achieved a mean score of 43% when the competency
score required was 70%. This lack of knowledge may impact on patient safety

Qualitative research is not completely precise and complete objectivity and neutrality
are impossible to achieve thus this may limit the accuracy of the study’s findings stated
by Holloway and Wheeler, 2002

The World Alliance for Patient Safety, established in 2004, identified research as a
priority area as it is a fundamental component in the establishment of safer healthcare

The World Health Organization (WHO) Patient Safety regulations emphasize the
importance of communication in the sharing of knowledge, as a lack of communication
has been shown to impact negatively on patient care. They state that “Communication,
transfer of knowledge and handovers between providers remain central to optimizing
patient safety”.
In 2009, the WHO identified and compiled a list of 50 global priority areas for patient
safety, with the intention of focusing on critical areas pivotal in improving the safety of
patient care

A recovery room is a dynamic, rapidly changing environment, with a high turnover of

patients in an “at risk” (Smith AF, Pope C, Goodwin D, Mort M, 2008)

This brief interaction is a very complex and dynamic bridging between the operating
theater and the recovery room, and as such, must be closely regulated in order to
maintain the same quality of safety standards that are utilized in these two settings
stated by Alejandro Arenas, 2014 .

The study setting indicates the universal practice of coordinating the procedure of
collecting valid and reliable data for an investigation stated by Pilot & Beck, 2014).

Burns and Grove describe a research design as the blueprint for a study.

According to Brink, a research design determines the methods by which the researcher
obtains subjects, collects data, analyses data and interprets results. This study was a
prospective, contextual, descriptive study

Any ethical implications of the study should be described and an explanation as to how
they will be handled should be given because the integrity of the study participant must
be protected at all times stated by Annersten & Wredling, 2006.