This educational package is a guide through electrosurgical history, explaining the background and how and why the basic system works. It is aimed at all operating theatre staff including surgeons, assistants, anaesthetists, scrub staff and operating department practitioners.
In this section...
About the training
Every year many patients and staff are injured needlessly by electrosurgical equipment. These injuries are often due to user error and poor systems of work, not the equipment function or design.
Electrosurgery is a very effective surgical tool and is used in about 80% of all surgical procedures. It is a complex technology not well understood by clinicians and can result in serious injuries – from serious burns to fatal fires in the trachea.
This educational package has been developed by the MHRA with the help of the Royal College of Surgeons. It is intended to be a guide through electrosurgical history, explaining the background, how and why the basic system works and providing some valuable do’s and don’ts when using electrosurgical equipment.
You will find a series of embedded quizzes throughout the programme which will aid you in remembering the important facts.
Electrosurgical issues are listed as an important cause of litigation by medical defence organisations.
This educational package is a guide through electrosurgical history, explaining the background and how and why the basic system works.
MHRA receives approximately 100 adverse incident reports a year - that’s almost two a week.
Who should complete this e-learning module
This educational package is aimed at all operating theatre staff including surgeons, assistants, anaesthetists, scrub staff and operating department practitioners.
The package may be used as a developmental tool and has been written to be easily understood by medical staff working in all areas.
Learning objectives
The training is intended to be a reminder of best practice and will provide all users with a better understanding of why procedures need to be followed, the value of record keeping and the possible pitfalls with cutting corners.
Time required
The package runs for around 45 minutes. You may require more time to re-read and review specific areas and to undertake the attached questions.
You may pause and then return to the package but you will need to remember where you paused and then pick up from there by clicking on the page tab that you left.
You may need to allow time for the page to load as it may contain video. Please be patient.
The educational package is presented in two forms. In the review version you can have multiple goes at each answer to learn as you go through. With the certificated version you only get one chance at the questions and you have to achieve over 80% success to obtain the certificate of completion.
