Objective: 1) To examine the perception and the usefulness of the anesthetic record sheet at the sixth month, after post-training. 2) To compare the nurses’ perception score of anesthetic record with their work experiences.

Materials and methods: This study was a descriptive design. Data was collected from the question- naires answered by forty-one ward nurses who were involved in the postoperative care of the surgical patients in Songklanagarind Hospital. At the sixth month after attending the short training course of “the application of anesthetic record for surgical ward nurse” held on June 10, 2010. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient with an alpha of 0.93.

Results: Among the 16 items of anesthetic record data, the mean highest and lowest score of the ward nurses perception were in the item of “blood and blood components” and “cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation” 4.56±0.55 and 4.00±0.94, respectively. The mean score of their perception related to work experience did not show a significant difference. The mean highest and lowest score of the anesthetic record usefulness were in the item of “ antibiotics ”and “temperature and hematocrit” 4.76±0.48 and 4.39±0.73, respectively. The usefulness were similar among the ward departments expections in the item of “amount and types of fluid ”. They also suggested to integrate the anesthetic records with the nurses notes in to the Hospital Information System (HIS).

Conclusion: Most of the surgical ward nurses had a good perception in anesthetic record and its usefulness after a short training course.