Recruitment and retention within specialist areas of nursing has been consistently difficult to achieve. This research explores the value of providing education and how this may enhance the ability to recruit and retain staff within the perioperative environment. This an area where nurses are perceived as not essential to the provision of quality care due to the technical nature of the nurses′ role detracting from the patient centred care delivered.

A multiple strategy approach was used with data collected via two questionnaires from ten Trusts within the South East of England. Findings demonstrated that while the provision of education may enhance the recruitment and retention of staff, prior to this occurring operating theatres needed to address the issues of motivation and morale within their departments. Many staff were found to be demotivated their views and opinions supporting the work of Herzberg (1959) on job satisfaction. Conclusions were that only once ‘satisfiers’ were increased and ‘dissatisfiers’ addressed could the provision of education supported by an educationalist benefit recruitment and retention of staff.

In July 2001 nine year old Tony Clowes died after suffering brain damage during preparation for minor surgery, following a cycling accident, when an anaesthetic tubing became blocked with a foreign body. At the enquiry it emerged that the tubing had been used on other patients despite being labeled for single-use only. A year later police ruled out “foul play” and concluded that the tragic death was a “freak accident”. This was one of many such incidents being investigated by police at the time and resulted in national and nursing media frenzy concerning the reuse of single - use equipment. (Gallagher 2002; Kenny 2002; Mahoney 2001) The debate was further fuelled by the withdrawal of single - use tonsillectomy instruments as they posed a greater danger to patients than the theoretical risk of spreading variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease (CJD), the purpose for which they were originally introduced. (Gallagher 2002)