Thesis: “Verbalising the tacit” Development and validation of the Non-Technical Skills for Operating Room Nurses (NOTSORN) tool
Irene Sirevåg’s thesis identified the non-technical skills of Norwegian operating room nurses and developed a behavioural marker system for operating room nurses.
The thesis is a mixed method, multi-item instrument development conducted in four stages. The first stage generated items for the tool through a three round Delphi Study. Consensus indicated that the crew resource management categories of teamwork, situation awareness, leadership, decision-making, and communication are important in the work of operating room nurses. The thematic analysis of the qualitative content developed descriptions of non-technical skills and their related behaviours. Several of these results have not previously been identified in relation to operating room nursing. Stage one is published in two papers.
Stage two included a synthesis where all items identified in papers one and two were refined into a bi-lingual (Norwegian and English) draft behavioural marker system, the NOTSORN tool.
Stage three involved face and content validation of the NOTSORN tool. The study confirmed face validity and excellent content validity at the item- and scale levels of the Norwegian and English NOTSORN tool.
The final stage was a qualitative synthesis that integrated the results of the first three stages and explored how the NOTSORN tool may contribute to high-quality operating room nursing practice.
The thesis provides the international operating room nursing profession with the validated NOTSORN tool. Systematic use of the NOTSORN tool may be a contribution towards high-quality operating room nursing practice. This thesis confirms that the tool captures the countless NTS needed in operating room nursing. The NOTSORN tool’s verbalisation of formerly unspoken and tacit skills may contribute to the general acknowledgement of operating room nurses’ responsibilities, competence, and contribution to patient safety. Furthermore, its operationalisation of cognitive and social skills may stimulate continuous learning for operating room nurses and students and improve surgical teamwork.
Irene Sirevåg She has a position as associate professor in operating room nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences. She is currently conducting research on the psychometric properties of the NOTSORN tool.
Irene Sirevåg (51) is an operating room nurse and holds a masters degree in operating room nursing from the University of Stavanger. She defended her thesis October 7th, 2024. Her PhD was a mixed methods study undertaken at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Stavanger.
Supervisors
Main supervisor:
Professor Emerita Britt Sætre Hansen, University of Stavanger
Co-supervisor:
Professor Ingrid Tjoflåt, University of Stavanger
Professor Brigid M. Gillespie, School of Nursing & Midwifery Griffith University, Australia
