With this, the authors were challenged to know the extent of compliance on the standard of preoperative surgical asepsis by the scrub nurses in two hospitals with functional operating theaters and to validate if there is a difference on level of significance according to race for the intention of identifying what key area/s can be subjected for further enhancement. There are two categories of asepsis general asepsis which applies to patient care procedures outside the operating theatre and surgical asepsis relating to procedures/processes designed to prevent surgical site infection. Aseptic technique is a general term involving practices that minimize the introduction of microorganisms to patients during patient care. Cleanliness of environment, adherence to proper hand washing technique, application of aseptic technique, clean linens and uniforms are all important in the prevention of infection. Techniques directed at cleanliness and the elimination of all infectious agents is universally applied on a daily basis within the healthcare industries. Not until the mid-nineteenth century when the principle of asepsis is developed as we knew it today. The knowledge that bacteria exist and are capable of causing-disease and act as transmissible agent was acquired in the nineteenth century. Nursing considerations for patients undergoing surgery have been refined to emphasize the importance of cleanliness and elimination of all infectious agents, which defines “Asepsis”. People, rather than the equipment, are the real obstacles to the creation and maintenance of a safe environment. Health care works may also acquire them as a result of contacting infectious organisms in the workplace. Clients may acquire nosocomial infections during their stay in a facility. Nosocomial infections result from delivery of health services in a health care facility. Clients in health care settings are usually vulnerable to infection because they are in high-risk groups. A research result of one study shows that one of the most effective ways of containing hospital acquired infections is through the application of a standardized aseptic technique for clinical procedures. Operating room nurses are responsible for providing a safe, efficient, and caring operating room environment, one in which the surgical team can function with an outcome that patient is as positive as possible. In the past few years, operating room nurses have expanded their practice patterns and responsibilities, enhanced their self-concepts and advanced to the level of perioperative nursing. Introduction The specialty of operating room nursing is coming of age in both image and practice.

Principles of surgical asepsis