Aim: This study aims to investigate the effects of surgical smoke in research hospitals in the Western Black Sea and Eastern Marmara Region and precautions taken for protection.
Method: This descriptive study was carried out on nurses working at operating rooms of four training and research hospitals (n=105) between April 1 and June 30, 2015. The study data were collected with the data collection form consisting of 15 questions incorporating socio-demographic and work characteristics of nurses, surgical smoke risks and the precautions they take to avoid these risks. The data were assessed through descriptive statistics such as number, percentage, mean and standard deviation.
Results: It was determined that with a mean age of 34,61±5,83, the nurses experienced problems such as headaches related to exposure to surgical smoke in operating room environment (61.9%), dizziness (32.4%), watering of the eyes (54.3%), throat burning (43.8%) and cough (41.0%). 90.5% of the nurses stated that there were general ventilating systems in operating rooms they worked in and 89.5% that no smoke removal devices existed. However, only 45.5% of the nurses working at operating rooms with removal devices said that the devices were actually used and 72.4% that there were no filters on smoke removal devices or they did not know if there were filters on them. 96.2% of the participants reported that there were no protocols in their operating rooms for protection against surgical smoke or they did not know if such a protocol existed or not. It was determined that 85.7% of the nurses used surgical masks to protect themselves from smoke.
Conclusion: It was observed that the precautions taken to avoid surgical smoke in operating rooms were insufficient and the nurses suffered from related symptoms. It is suggested that precautions be taken for protection against surgical smoke in operating rooms and written protocols be set for this purpose.