investigating patient privacy in the operating room: a crosssectional study in hamedan

Introduction: respecting privacy is recognized as mandatory in healthcare organizations. due to the special conditions of the operating room, privacy can contribute to the patient’s desirability before and after anesthesia and reduce the need for premedication. therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate patient privacy in the operating room. methods: this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2022, assessed the privacy of surgical patients in the operating room of besat hospital in hamedan. this study used a researchermade checklist. after obtaining informed consent, the researcher evaluated the admitting nurses and patients admitted to the operating room during three stages before, during, and after surgery to assess privacy. spss version 22 software was used to analyze the data. findings: most personnel involved in this study held an associate’s or bachelor’s degree relevant to the operating room, were married, and matched the gender of the patients. the lowest privacy score (10.08) was recorded during admission and transfer to the operating room, while the highest (10.80) was observed during the intraoperative phase. a significant relationship was found between patient privacy, educational degree, and personnel shift status (p<0.05). conclusion: the high level of privacy compliance in this study indicates that maintaining patient privacy is of particular importance to operating room personnel. however, staff awareness of patient privacy can be improved by holding training workshops.