What Is Perioperative Nursing All About?
Perioperative nurses are those who assist physicians during patient care in the operating room. They are also more popularly known as Operation Room Nurses.
Perioperative nurses are usually Registered Nurses. They are involved in the care of patients during preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative stages of surgery and they work as assistants to surgeons. Perioperative nurses can be found in surgical departments of hospitals, operating rooms of hospitals, and in private clinics.
What competencies are required in Perioperative Nursing?
A perioperative nurse is required to supervise the whole environment of the operating room and ensure that it is completely safe, comfortable and secure. For this, she needs to do the following: * A perioperative nurse should be adept at using the following instruments, equipment, and other accessories that are used in an operation room - electrosurgical equipment, sequential compression devices, microscopes, dermatomes, phacoemulsification machines, light sources,video equipment, oxygen and nitrous oxide lines, arterial lines, suction systems, nitrogen tanks, blood warmers, batteries for equipment, pulse lavage systems, cement systems, drills, warming blankets or Bair Huggers, emergency cardiac equipment, etc. * Not only is knowing how to use these equipment essential for a perioperative nurse, but she must also be able to deal with any problems as also be able to troubleshoot them. * A perioperative nurse is also required to safely perform transfer of a person from and to a bed. She must ensure that safety straps and side rails are used properly. * A perioperative nurse should also select and handle all instruments that are used in an operation room. * A perioperative nurse is required to check all documents of a patient before he/she enters the operating room and these documents include a medical history of the patient, laboratory reports, electrocardiogram values, correct patient name, x-ray reports, operation number and surgical procedure, NPO status, charge slips, lab slip, and quality assurance monitors. What are the future prospects of nurses in perioperative nursing? Besides practical and technical nursing skills, perioperative nursing also teaches problem-solving skills to a person. Like all other professions, this job is also likely to create a number of vacancies in future. This is also attested to by the universally accepted fact that with increased technological advances everyday in health care, the demand for newly trained nurses will always be high. Further with experience and education, these specialized nurses also become operating room directors and thus become responsible for managing the budget and staff of the hospital. They can also further enhance their career by their selection of research as an option. What would be my earning potential, if I become a Perioperative Nurse? Nurses going for Perioperative nursing jobs earn more than Registered Nurses, with salary ranging from US$37,300 to US$74,760 depending on the geographical location, popularity of the hospital, as also the responsibility level of the person concerned.
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