OBJECTIVE To determine the opinions of operating room nurses towards the Surgical Safety ChecklistTR (SSCTR) and to determine applications for using SSCTR in operating rooms. METHODS This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 102 nurses working in the operating rooms of a state hospital and a university hospital in the Afyonkarahisar province. Descriptive statistics method were used for data analysis. RESULTS It was found that all operating room nurses knew the SSCTR and that they had a positive opinion regarding the necessity of the SSCTR. However, most of the participants stated that the SSCTR was not applied effectively in the operating room. CONCLUSIONS The results obtained from the study show that changes focusing on the development of a culture of patient safety (PS) and team collaboration in operating rooms must be made in order to apply SSCTR consistently and properly.