Self-study: an effective method for bioterrorism training in the OR.

During a bioterrorist attack, health care professionals must be prepared to respond appropriately, but many perioperative nurses do not receive adequate education about bioterrorism. One perioperative nurse led a survey project to determine how prepared perioperative nurses were to respond during a bioterrorist attack and whether a self-study module would help increase participants' self-rated levels of preparedness. The results showed that perioperative nurses generally felt unprepared to respond to a bioterrorist event. After reading the self-study module, nurses from facilities that both did and did not provide education on bioterrorism reported increases in self-rated levels of preparedness. (c) AORN, Inc, 2008.