An overwhelming majority of all male piglets are castrated without anaesthesia when they are very young. In Sweden this means that approximately one and a half million piglets are castrated every year. The reason the piglets are castrated is the strong and unpleasant smell and taste, the ?boar taint? that the meat from intact boars sometimes exhibits. Boar taint is chiefly cause by androstenone and skatole, two compounds that are mostly produced by sexually mature boars and are accumulated in the subcutaneous fat.

ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to illustrate how surgical operation theatre nurses perceive debriefing within emergency health care. The study has a qualitative design with semi structured interviews that have been performed with seven operating room nurses working in emergency health care. The strategic selection consists of professional operation theatre nurses working in emergency care at Uppsala University Hospital. The main goal of this thesis is to increase the understanding of debriefing and to highlight the need of debriefing after difficult or unexpected events in the emergency health care profession.The interviewed nurses perceive debriefing as an important way to develop the day to day work, but also as a way to unburden the staff at the time of bigger traumas. Even though the effect of debriefing is not univocally positive in the literature, the staff perceives that it reduces different kinds of stress.

The aim was to describe the experiences of couples where the male partner had undergone radical prostatectomy due to prostate cancer. Furthermore, the study explored how the operation had affected their sexual life, whether the couples had received enough post surgical support and information concerning these issues, and to describe the kind of support and information these couples desired. Twenty men and ten partners participated. All the men experienced a varying degree of post surgical erectile dysfunction and only five men had received support concerning their sexual life. Eleven men desired professional visiting support activities.

Postoperative site infections are the second most common health care associated infection in Sweden. Surgical procedures can lead to postoperative site infection causing great suffer for the patient and an extended care time with an increased cost as a result. In preparation for surgery, it is important that the skin is well prepared with antiseptics to decrease the risk of postoperative site infection. The purpose with this study was to shed light upon the skin preparation before surgery and its significance to postoperative site infection. Ten scientific articles have been scrutinized and compiled and two themes have been identified ? the preoperative and the intraoperative skin preparation.

Background: Surgical complications has been the main cause of medical injuries and deaths worldwide. In 2008 WHO developed the checklist for safe surgery to reduce the number of surgical complications. The objective of the checklist is to strengthen already established safety routines and contribute to better cooperation and communication. Research shows that compliance to the checklist is deficient, which can affect patient safety.Aim: The aim was to study the extent to which theatre nurses participate in the use of the checklist.Method: Observational study was conducted with a descriptive design and quantitative approach. 24 observations were carried out with aid of an observation protocol of two surgical units at a hospital in central Sweden.Result: The results showed that Timeout initiated widely but compliance to all items was considerably lower.

ABSTRACTBackground: On behalf of the Orthopedic clinic, Västerås, a study has been conducted with focus on comparing the results after conservative and surgical treatment due to complete achillestendon rupture.Aim: To compare results when testing the active and passive range of motion, calf muscle endurance, estimation of pain related to the achillestendon and self-efficacy to be physically active for individuals who have undergone conservative or surgical treatment after complete achillestendon rupture.Method: 14 individuals afflicted by complete achillestendon rupture in 2010 were recruited as a purposive sample. Examination were conducted of: Ankle range of motion with a goniometer, calf muscle endurance through a toe-raise test, estimation of pain intensity related to the achillestendon by VAS and self-efficacy to be physically active through ?Exercise self-efficacy scale?. P-value and the median were calculated.Result: The results of ankle range of motion and calf muscle endurance were based on the difference between the injured and the healthy side. When testing active plantarflexion the conservative group had a median of 4 ? and the surgical group had a median of 10 ?.

BackgroundWorld Alliance for Patient Safety, launched by the WHO, has created a Surgical Safety Checklist. It was first published in 2008 and has been translated and modified in Sweden by Landstingens Ömsesidiga Försäkringsbolag, LÖF. The use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has been shown to reduce the number of complications and deaths related to surgery.AimThe aim of this study is to describe the Theatre Nurse?s participation in in the use of a modified version of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist intraoperatively in two Theatres in a hospital in the centre of Sweden.MethodThis study has a quantitative descriptive approach. A direct observational study was carried out in two Theatres and the participants were asked a few complementary questions after the observations.

 Pain is common among women undergoing first trimester surgical abortions. At the postoperative unit, department of gynaecology, University Hospital, Uppsala, the goal is that 80 % of the women should rate pain as £ 3 on a numeric rating scale (NRS), when leaving the unit.The aim of the study was to investigate how rating was performed at the unit and to investigate patient?s perceptions of pain after having undergone first trimester surgical abortion.20 patients (74%) participated in the study. Ninety percent of the patients rated their pain as NRS £ 3 when leaving the unit. Seven patients (35 %) rated their pain as NRS > 3 directly after operation, and 2 (10 %) patients NRS > 3 when leaving the unit.

In Sweden, the most common way to castrate a bitch is by midline approach. In this study, flank and midline approaches are compared in order to evaluate incision by the flank as an alternative technique for ovariohysterectomy in the bitch. The study was performed on straydogs in the central part of Thailand under field conditions. 32 bitches were included in the study. The castration technique was by flank and midline approach, alternating with every other bitch.

Introduction: To become acute ill and to be forced to seek treatment involves a difficult but also a vulnerable time for the individual. This acquires a good relationship between the nurse and the patient. At a surgical emergency ward patients with different diagnoses and trauma are treated. What distinguishes this specific type of ward is that care often occurs in a rapid rate and as a patient the environment may be experienced as stressed. The relationship with the nurse at the ward establishes a foundation for how the patient experiences the health care.

In Sweden surgical treatment of vocal fold lesions in children is fairly uncommon. At Falun hospital they have adapted a more generous attitude towards phonosurgery of children?s vocal folds. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate surgical treatment of organic vocal fold lesions in children and to assess the phonosurgical patient utility. The study was carried out at the Ear-, Nose- and Throat clinic, Falun hospital, Sweden.

Background: Surgical complications has been the main cause of medical injuries and deaths worldwide. In 2008 WHO developed the checklist for safe surgery to reduce the number of surgical complications. The objective of the checklist is to strengthen already established safety routines and contribute to better cooperation and communication. Research shows that compliance to the checklist is deficient, which can affect patient safety.Aim: The aim was to study the extent to which theatre nurses participate in the use of the checklist.Method: Observational study was conducted with a descriptive design and quantitative approach. 24 observations were carried out with aid of an observation protocol of two surgical units at a hospital in central Sweden.Result: The results showed that Timeout initiated widely but compliance to all items was considerably lower.

Introduction. Infection Prevention is one of the surgical nurses' main responsibilities. One of the steps which patients undergo in this purpose before surgery is the preoperative skin desinfektion. Background. The patient washes the day before surgery with Descutan cutaneous sponge 4 %, a sponge containing chlorhexidine.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Postoperative wound infection is the third most common nosocomial infection in Sweden. The ever-growing problem of antibiotic resistance provides surgical departments a big challenge when it comes to preventing the spread of infection. Operating theatre nurses have a vital role in the prevention of infection. In addition, correct ventilation in the operating theatre is of great importance. The caregiver is responsible for quality assurance of ventilation in the operating theatre, but the work can be delegated to other staff within the department.

Introduction: Balance between the essential nutritive substances is important for aperson to maintain health. The surgical patient can be stricken with conditions, whichhave a negative impact on this balance and can lead to malnutrition. Working as a nurseit is important to identify patients that are malnourished or is in the risk zone ofmalnourishment since 30 % of all patients in hospitals are malnourished.Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the compliance to the guidelines fornutritional assessment and parenteral nutrition on a surgical ward. Also whether thenutritional treatment/-support was reported to the next caregivers if the patient wasmalnourished or was in the risk zone of malnourishment at the time of discharge.Method: 80 patients enrolled on the ward in the beginning of year 2011 were included.Audit of patient records was made according to the hospital guidelines for nutrition andparenteral nutrition and followed a study specific protocol.Results: The examination of the case records showed that the guidelines for nutritionwere partly complied with. Nutritional treatment/-support was reported to the nextcaregivers when needed.