What do you call someone who works independently in close partnership with others? A perioperative nurse.
There’s no oxymoron here. Perioperative nurse jobs give RNs opportunities for both autonomy and close collaboration within tightly knit teams. Perioperative nurses perform distinct duties; but those tasks must seamlessly harmonize with finely orchestrated actions by a variety of medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesia providers, other nurses, and technicians.
A surgical center career won’t suit every nurse. The high-stakes environment of surgical services is fast-paced, demanding, and stressful at times. The rewards of perioperative nursing jobs, on the other hand, are many, including the ability to safeguard the welfare and safety of one patient at a time (sometimes in life-and-death circumstances); opportunities for career advancement; and higher-than-average salaries.
If you’re considering changing your nursing specialty, perioperative nursing offers opportunities to sustain a long-lasting, gratifying career. Overall, perioperative nurses report high job satisfaction and tend to stay in their chosen specialty for years, even decades.
To determine if a job in a surgical center should be your next best career move, weigh your interests and abilities against these 10 traits of successful perioperative nurses:
1. Preference for Variety
No two days are alike in perioperative nursing. Whether they work in the surgical theater or in a pre- or postop setting, perioperative nurses participate in a wide variety of procedures involving an equally wide range of patients. In a single shift, a perioperative nurse may attend to pediatric, adult, and geriatric patients before, during, and after various operations, from minimally invasive and elective procedures to open or emergency surgeries. Variety also extends to positions within the specialty: Perioperative nurses can opt to concentrate their expertise in different roles, including working as scrub nurses, circulating nurses, registered nurse first assistants, or in post-anesthesia care units.
2. Self-reliant
Perioperative nurses are confident, independent decision makers. Although they work under the direction of a surgeon in the operating room, their focus remains on their patients’ welfare, comfort, and safety during operative procedures. They use critical-thinking skills to anticipate and respond to problems, and they won’t hesitate to alert surgeons and other members of the surgical team should issues arise. In fact, surgeons rely on perioperative nurses to communicate glitches or other problems that could compromise effective, safe procedures. In the PACU, perioperative nurses serve as vital extensions to the surgical team as they monitor patients’ status during post-anesthesia recovery.
3. Collaborative
As much as perioperative nurses independently fulfill distinct responsibilities within surgical centers, they also work in concert with their surgical colleagues. Operative procedures are cooperative affairs that require not only carefully orchestrated movements and communication between practitioners, but also an “I’ve-got-your-back” commitment among members of the surgical team. Perioperative nurses are strong team players who often cite their close bonds with their colleagues as a reason they’d recommend their specialty to other nurses.
4. Effective Communicators
Wishy-washy doesn’t work in the operating room, where hesitation, even a few ambivalent seconds worth, could literally mean the difference between life and death for patients. Perioperative nurses know how to communicate quickly, clearly, concisely, and accurately.
5. Fierce Patient Advocates
Successful perioperative nurses have grit. They’re prepared to stand up to the notoriously strong personalities of surgeons and other team members when necessary to safeguard their patients. Whether in the operating theater or PACU, perioperative nurses serve as unwavering advocates for patients who are in an exceptionally vulnerable position during and following anesthesia.
6. High Energy and Fortitude
Perioperative nurses don’t enjoy the luxury of down time. They typically move from one procedure to the next in tightly packed operating schedules. Many operative procedures are not lengthy, but some can keep perioperative nurses on their feet and stringently focused on their responsibilities for hours at a time. Physical stamina is a must for successful perioperative nursing practice.
7. Resilience
Emotional strength is as important as physical stamina in perioperative nursing. Surgical centers tend to be stressful environments; and perioperative nurses must remain calm and effective when, as a result of the risks involved with surgical procedures, tensions among team members run high. Perioperative nurses also learn to cope with the unfortunate, but not uncommon, loss of patients during or after surgery.
8. “Fixer” Mindset
Perioperative nurses find pleasure in the nearly instant-gratification offered by their specialty. They enjoy fixing broken things, whether those things are bones, hearts, or other ailments; and they’re gratified when their contributions promise to return patients to healthy, productive lives.
9. Embrace Technology
Surgical centers have become technology strongholds where some of the most innovative equipment and processes in healthcare are introduced (think robotics, for example). Perioperative nurses must be beyond comfortable with tech; they must welcome it to be able to operate and troubleshoot an ever-evolving array of equipment and machines.
10. Great (Not Just Good) Assessment Skills
Either during surgical procedures or while in recovery, patients rely 100% on the keen assessment skills of their perioperative nurses. In few other specialties is the need for quick thinking and rapid action as imperative as in perioperative nursing. Surgical patients’ status can change rapidly and with little or no warning. Perioperative nurses’ strong assessment skills represent the vital safety net that helps to ensure positive surgical and post-surgical outcomes.
Do you have what it takes to work in a surgical setting? Share your skills with us, and we’ll help you reach your goal of becoming a perioperative nurse. Apply for an open position with Eisenhower Medical Center.
Originally posted on 13/1/2017