Asian Journal of Research in Nursing and Health

Introduction: Surgical delay is defined as patient placement in the operating theatre later than the scheduled time. Literature point out that surgical delays is significantly contributing factor to poor patient outcomes and higher rate of hospital mortality.

The objective of the study were: to describe the perception of nurses and anesthetist on surgical delay in surgical discipline in elective surgery at Kigali referral hospitals and the perception of nurses and non-physician anesthetist on factors associated with surgical delay related to the hospital in elective surgeries at Kigali Referral Hospitals.

Methods: A cross-sectional   descriptive study was conducted at Kigali referral hospitals. The study population was the nurses and non-physician anesthetists working in theatre at Kigali referral hospitals, Rwanda. A convenience sampling method was used. A sample size of 140 nurses and anesthetists were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and were analyzed using SPSS version. The results were presented using table and figures.

Results: The surgical discipline delays was orthopedic, Neuro-surgery and laparoscopic surgery. The prominent 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. 

Conclusion: The surgical delay was found in different discipline of surgeries, the associated factors were that related to patients, related to the caregivers and to the institution.

Recommendation: There is need to conduct further research to explore the in-depth effects of factors associated with surgical delay. In addition, there is need to stream line policies and procedure of patient pre-surgical reviews, preparations, scheduling and management of patients’ flow in theatre to maximize on time.