Perioperative Practice

Been busy for a lot of reasons. Anyway, the nurse is back. 

I have been relieving duties as a peri-operative nurse. Things are still rough, but I am getting the hang of it. The staff have been very helpful and informative, encouraging and teaching me various stuff (related to the job of course). I have been re-immersing myself to various nursing textbook, re-teaching myself nursing concepts and procedures.

For the sake of this post, I have decided to share with you guys things about Perioperative Nursing.

This is a theater where rehearsals are not done.

Operating room nursing is a special branch of nursing that is concerned with perioperative client care, encompassing the three phases of surgical experience - preoperative preparation, intraoperative judgement and management, and postoperative care.

The preoperative period begins when the client agrees to and is scheduled for surgery and ends with his/her transfer to the surgical suite. The intraoperative phase corresponds to the period in which anesthesia is administered, the operation is done and the client is transferred to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) or recovery room. Lastly, the postoperative phase refers to the client's stay in up to his/her discharge from the PACU.

It is expected that an operating room (OR) nurse acts as an educator, an advocate of the client welfare, a promoter of health, and a prime mover in the prevention of illness. Furthermore, an OR nurse must possess critical judgement, have knowledge and competence in carrying out nursing tasks and anticipate the needs of a surgical client. It is in this regard that perioperative nursing places special emphasis on safety in the operating room and in the conduct of substantial education.

Now, do I possess those criteria? I am on the process on acquiring it (finger cross). Till next time.


Credits to the owner of the photos.
Words regarding Operating Room nursing is an excerpt from the book: 
Operating Room Nursing: Perioperative Practice by Pamela Pagunsan-Villacarlos RN, MAN, Ed.D