Authors: (including presenting author): :
Ng HW (1), Lee WS (2), Wan NW (2), Ho MN (2)
Affiliation: :
(1) Department of Surgery, Tuen Mun Hospital, (2) Department of Anaesthesia and Operating Theatre, Tuen Mun Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Vascular Nursing
Keyword 2: :
Perioperative Nursing
Keyword 3: :
Emergency EVAR
Introduction: :
With the continuous advancement, Endovascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) has become the primary intervention for Abdominal Aortic Anerysms (AAA). In New Territories West Cluster, over 98% of emergency AAA surgeries in recent years have been performed using endovascular techniques. Unlike conventional open repair, this technique requires meticulous preparation of peripheral equipment and thorough familiarity with specialized consumables for Operating Theatre (OT) nurses. To prevent delays in time-sensitive emergency EVAR surgeries, a taskforce of Vascular Nurse from Department of Surgery and OT Specialty Nurses from Department of Anaesthesia and Operating Theatre (A&OT) of Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) developed a specialized workshop to address the knowledge gaps for OT nurses and boost the preparedness for emergencies.
Objectives: :
After the workshop, the attendants will be able to master - the principles of theatre setting, patient positioning, OT table setup and sterile draping technique - the different specialized vascular consumables like guidewire, catheters, balloons catheter, endograft delivery system; and advanced surgical equipment like contrast injector and ultrasound machine - the standard surgical steps and techniques - the requisite knowledge and skills for effective patient care
Methodology: :
Six identical hands-on workshops were organized from February to July 2025 in OT of TMH. In each workshop, 6 to 7 OT nurses were invited. Trainers were the Vascular Nurse from Department of Surgery and Vascular Specialty Nurse from Department of A&OT, TMH. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires were distributed to the participants to evaluate the outcomes of the workshop.
Result & Outcome: :
Thirty-seven OT nurses participated in 6 sessions. Their OT experience ranges from more than 1 year to more than 10 years. Despite a 24% reduction in response rate of post-workshop (n=28), the competency scores rose by ~78% in post-workshop. The workshop significantly shifted the score distribution from 0–4 to 7–10 among the items Theatre Setting, Patient Positioning, Draping Procedure, Working Table Setup, Vascular Consumables and Steps of Surgery and patient care. The median score of Pre-Workshop is 5.0+/- 2.01 and Post-Workshop is 8.0 +/- 1.34 out of 10 with p< .05 Before the workshop, the OT nurses reported high levels of distress and low confidence. 29.7% of participants rated their anxiety at a maximum of 10/10 while confidence levels were low, with the most frequent score being 0/10 (16.2%). They noted "panic," "lack of training," and being "not familiar with everything" in daily practice. 29.7% of participants reported maximum anxiety (10/10) due to unfamiliarity with equipment and consumables. The post-workshop results indicate that the training effectively mitigated these stressors by replacing "panic" with "procedural familiarity, shifting the confidence from 0/10 (pre-workshop) to 8/10 (post-workshop). The improvement in scores is statistically robust (p< 0.001) (The Mann-Whitney U Test) and not due to sample size variance. The workshop successfully transitioned the staff from "high anxiety/low competency" to "controlled confidence/high competency." It is recommended that this curriculum be integrated into standard orientation for all OT staff to ensure sustained clinical safety in vascular procedures.
