Education and experience make a difference: results of a predictor study.

Growing evidence demonstrates the link between the quality of care nurses provide, patient outcomes, and nurses' level of qualification and expertise. Little attention has been given to measuring the influence of experience and education on nurses' perceptions of their perioperative competence. To describe the influence of years of OR experience and specialty education on nurses' perioperative competence, we surveyed 345 perioperative nurses from two Australian hospitals.

Operating theatre nurses' perceptions of competence: a focus group study.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study exploring nurses' perceptions of the components of competence in the operating theatre.

Background: Competency Standards for operating theatre practice are used in some countries to guide clinical and professional behaviours. The need for competence assessment has been enshrined, but the conceptualization and agreement about what signifies competence in Operating Theatre has been lacking.