Understanding SurgeryThe
project team includes 2 experienced operating theatre nurses and an educational
technologist and was supported by the Teaching and Learning Technology Project
(TLTP) Phase 3.
The programme loaded easily from the CD
The first screen offers a short tutorial about using a computer which helps
novices to use the mouse, buttons, clicking & how to load the CD, with some
interactive components to ensure users have grasped these basic concepts.
There is also a tutorial available about the CD. This offers help to the
user in understanding the navigation buttons used in the program, and lots of
"twiddly bits" including time & sound functions & the ability
to set an alarm if you need to finish using the CD at a particular time,
glossary, shortcuts and film clips.
The CD is divided into 6 sections; anatomy, the patient, operations,
alternatives, assessment and index as shown in Figure 1
Figure 1- Screen shot of sections
The relevant anatomy is presented in clear diagrams with an animation providing
labels and short descriptions of the functions of the parts. The production,
uses and constituents of bile are briefly explained.
The Essay questions ask the user to select a patient and write about various aspects of their care.
The projects ask the user to look at the program and apply this to their work area with suggestions of ; pain management, laproscopic safety, complications and skin integrity. Each includes suggestions of topic areas to be investigated.
The Index
This provides the opportunity for the user to go to any topic on the CD by
clicking on the first letter. The topics available then link to the glossary
and the relevant section of the CD.
A key topics button is available throughout the program which enables the user
to quickly find out about; anaesthetic, pain management, positioning,
complications and laparoscopy. For example clicking on anaesthetics links to;
types, patient medication and monitoring. The patient section includes:
Pre-operative and risk assessment, investigations, which anaesthetic and
postponing surgery. These are supported by suitable illustrations eg animated
ECGs in the anaesthetic section.
There is also a comprehensive glossary. Words or abbreviations included are shown in green and clicking on them provides a short description or explanation at the bottom of the screen.
References are available at frequent points which give details of relevant publications linked to the topic on screen at any time. They are also marked by a book symbol next to specific areas of text.
The "my progress" button gives a map of major topics and indicates those which have been visited by the user - this is customisable by the addition of the users name, however it did not appear to be possible for users to carry forward their progress (or previous assessments) from one session of using the CD to another.
Throughout the program an animated character in theatre greens appears to
help the user. This could become annoying after a while but does help to
introduce humour into the learning.
This is an extremely well produced CD which makes navigation and learning easy
for the user blending text with animation to provide a good insight into
biliary surgery.
Appropriate colour schemes and screen designs provide a pleasant experience, although the transition between the screens for different sections was sometimes a little slow (this will presumably depend on the specification of the computer being used.
The material could provide a useful introduction for preregistration nursing students, but there is enough depth of content for those undertaking specialist education and in-service training. I would also feel that this would be suitable for Operating Department Assistants and other theatre staff, as well as any health professional working in perioperative surgical areas.
Biliary £35
Upper Abdominal £35
Lower Abdominal £35 (available Dec 1999)
Proctology £35 (available Feb 2000)
Breast £35 (available May 2000)
Set of 5 titles £150
Networked versions for intranet use are available
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