Perioperative Nurse Role

An operating room is a setting where every second counts, for a patient’s life may be on the line. In the operating room, it takes more than a surgeon to perform an operation; the helping hands of perioperative nurses are of great need as well. Perioperative nurses work closely with other team members to make sure a procedure is safe and successful. The roles and responsibilities of perioperative nurses are distributed evenly between the scrub nurse, registered nurse first assistant, and the circulating nurse. The role of a scrub nurse is of great importance in the operating room because their duties begin even before the surgical procedure starts. The scrub nurse starts by making sure the operating room is clean and sterile, so that the patient is not at risk for an infection. Which is why every staff member involved in the surgery must wash their hands with a special soap and put on sterile garments, including gown, mask, and gloves. Then the scrub nurse will begin to lay out all the surgical tools and equipment needed for the particular procedure they are preparing for, such as scalpels, …show more content…
The registered nurse first assistant works beside the surgeon, providing a more hands on approach, then the other perioperative nurses. Registered nurse first assistants provide direct care during the surgery, such as making the initial opening incision, retracting the opening incision, suctioning blood from the incision, and reconnecting tissue. Another essential responsibility the registered nurse first assistant has is to stop unnecessary bleeding by utilizing a technique called hemostasis. The registered nurse first assistant is also the nurse that may sometimes complete a procedure by cleaning up the incision and apply dressings, casts, or splints. They may also drill, cauterize, and approximate tissue, if requested by the