What is an Operating Room Nurse?

A licensed registered nurse (RN) who assists in the operating room (OR) and provides pre- and post-operative care to surgery patients is known as an operating room nurse. This is a specialty area of nursing that may necessitate additional training and credentials in addition to the RN license. Nurses who work in operating rooms work in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, clinics, and other medical settings where surgery is performed. A perioperative nurse is another term for an operating room nurse, or OR nurse.

Within the operating room nurse profession, there are several focus areas. RN first assistant, scrub nurse, and circulating nurse are among them. During surgical procedures, RN first assistants and scrub nurses work directly with surgeons. Positioning and draping patients, assisting with blood loss control, suturing tissue, and other duties fall to the first assistant. Scrub nurses are in charge of the surgical instruments, anticipating what the surgeons will require and passing them on to the doctors.

Circulating nurses are members of the surgical team who are not sterile and are in charge of all nursing areas in the operating room. They act as patient advocates in the operating room, keeping a close eye on the patients’ overall health. Circulating nurses keep an eye on surgeries and assist the sterile teams as needed.

Outside of the operating room, the operating room nurse has a variety of responsibilities. Patients’ questions about the upcoming procedures are answered operating room nurses prior to surgery. They prepare patients for surgery and keep the operating room sterile. They restock operating rooms with supplies after each surgery. They oversee and coordinate patient healthcare plans following surgery. Higher-level operating room nurses may serve as overall operating room directors, overseeing all aspects of the rooms, including staffing, budgeting, and ordering supplies, among other things.

Those considering a career as an operating room nurse should have a calm, emotionally stable personality. In operating rooms, emergencies and other distressing situations are common, and reacting calmly and professionally is critical. Empathy is essential for connecting with patients, acting as their advocate, and understanding what they are going through. It is necessary to be able to separate emotional aspects of the job in order to do what is best for patients.

It is necessary to be a strong communicator who can deal with patients and their families as well as work with physicians and other medical personnel. Operating room nurses must have physical strength in addition to mental strength in order to lift patients and move equipment around. Operating room nurses have the stamina to work long days on their feet in operating rooms.