title: First assistant activities.
abstract: A discussion of some of the issues surrounding the first assistant role has been ongoing in perioperative journals since around 1995. The crux of this discussion is the concern that theatre nurses who take on first assistant duties will encounter problems with professional accountability and liability. It is also proposed that theatre nurses wishing to act as first assistants require additional training. However, much of this debate is influenced by an assumption that has been accepted, apparently unchallenged, by some theatre nurses. This assumption is that first assistant activities constitute an extended role.
authors.affiliation: University of Leeds.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tanner
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D009871:Operating Room Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D006113:United Kingdom