title: The experiences of nurses who participate in awake craniotomy procedures.
abstract: In awake craniotomy is a unique neurosurgical procedure in which the patient is conscious during part of the procedure. Little has been documented about how instrument nurses (ie, scrub persons) react to this complex procedure and to the tasks of caring for a conscious patient. A phenomenological investigation was conducted to document the experiences of nine instrument nurses. The nurses were challenged by having to manage the conscious presence of the patient, they placed great importance on controlling the surgical situation, and they reported that participating in this procedure had a compelling emotional effect on them.
authors.affiliation: Udine University, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Alvisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palese
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Infanti
mesh_terms: D003399:Craniotomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D009871:Operating Room Nursing; D014851:Wakefulness