Responsibility for patient care in perioperative practice.

Aim: To obtain an understanding of operating theatre nurses' experiences of responsibility for patient care and safety in perioperative practice.

Design: A hermeneutic design were used.

Method: Data were collected during 2012 from 15 operating theatre nurses who participated in individual interviews. The text was analyzed by hermeneutical text interpretation.

Findings: The texts revealed two main themes: A formal external responsibility and personal ethical value. Responsibility that the patient was not exposed to risks, protecting the patient's body, systematically planning and organizing work in the surgical team. The personal ethical value meant confirming the patient as a person, caring for the patient and preserving the patient's dignity. A new understanding emerged that the operating theatre nurse always have the patient in mind.