Abstract:
Introduction: Surgical delay is defined as patient placement in the operating theatre later than the scheduled time. Literature reviewed point out that surgical delays is a significantly contributing factor to poor patient outcomes and higher rate of hospital mortality. Surgical delay has also been associated with reduced patient satisfaction, low productivity to the hospital and time loss from patients rescheduling and related consequences.
The aim of this study: is to assess the perception of nurses and non-physician anesthetist on factors associated with perioperative surgical delay in elective surgeries at Kigali referral hospitals, Rwanda.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Kigali referral hospitals. The population of this study are nurses and non-physician anesthetist working in theatre at Kigali referral hospitals Rwanda using convenience sampling strategy , sample size of 162 nurses and non-physician anesthetist working in theatre at Kigali referral hospitals ,Rwanda a selfadministered questionnaire was used to collect data ,SPSS21 used in analysis data .
Results: The surgical discipline delays was orthopedic, Neuro-surgery and laparoscopic surgery.
The contributing factors of surgery delay, the patient’s delay to attend the hospital, instability of patients for operation, uncontrolled co-morbidities, and blood not booked on time, other was the unavailability of instrument and equipment of surgical team not ready for surgical operation. Conclusion: The surgical delay was found in different discipline of surgeries, the associated factors were that related to patients, related to the caregivers and the institution
Recommendation: there is need to conduct further research to explore real factors associated with surgical delay. In addition, there is need to stream line policies and procedure of patient presurgical reviews, preparations, scheduling and management of patients’ flow in theatre to maximize on time.
