|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
| Making the Cut in Perioperative
Nursing Karla A. Knight, RN, MSN |
|||
| You see a drama unfold
in the operating room (OR) of a television series. You go
to the hospital for day surgery and feel grateful that a
nurse takes time to tell you what’s going to happen
once you go home. You find out that an observant nurse
saved your mother’s life. You overhear a nurse
talking to a patient’s husband in the hallway,
reassuring him that the operation is going well. You say
to yourself, could I be a nurse in the OR? According to Patricia Seifert, RN, MSN, CNOR, CRNFA, president of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), the answer is “Yes!” Although education is important and prior experience can be helpful, Seifert stresses that the most important prerequisite for a career in perioperative nursing is the candidate’s attitude. If you have a constant desire to be a learner, if you expect the best from yourself and others, and if you can accept the success of the team over individual recognition, Seifert suspects that you might be right for perioperative nursing. Perioperative nurses perform a range of nursing activities that occur preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively. According to Seifert, OR nursing, as perioperative nursing was formerly known, has often been perceived as purely technical. “We perform activities that could be considered strictly technical. However, we integrate caring for the patient and collaborating with other team members in all facets of the surgical continuum. In fact, what we do is not demonstrated through our hands but rather through the hands we hold. There is a great deal of unappreciated compassion during the whole operative process.” The days of limiting OR opportunities to being a scrub nurse or a circulating nurse are gone. Seifert urges nurses who are interested in perioperative nursing to look into the many career opportunities that are available. Such opportunities include case management, perioperative research and education, advanced practice nursing, ambulatory surgical nursing, and nursing in surgical office practices. Further help in narrowing down perioperative career options is available through the Specialty Assemblies organized by AORN. These assemblies emphasize clinical concentration in areas such as pediatrics, ambulatory surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and even nursing informatics. Perioperative nurses may seek certification as a certified perioperative registered nurse (CNOR) or as a certified registered nurse first assistant (CRNFA). Seifert has both certifications and has participated as a first assistant in about 3,000 operations during her career in perioperative nursing, which spans 23 years. She views the first assistant role as one that gives a perioperative nurse special insight into the flow and mechanics of the surgical process. As the first assistant, who can also be another physician or a physician’s assistant, Seifert has the unique vantage point of identifying which materials and technology are required to make the surgery efficient and successful, which processes can be particularly helpful in educating other nurses who may never have been in an OR, and where the focus for improved patient care might be. Most surgery is done on an ambulatory basis, and inpatient hospital stays are short. However, according to Seifert, surgery remains a major life event, and nurses must address the needs of the patient. The time constraints may be considerable, but the perioperative nurse has the knowledge of “high-tech” and the gift of “high-touch” to partner with every patient to ensure a positive surgical experience. Seifert emphasizes, “For me, the best part of being a perioperative nurse is the opportunity to serve others – not only patients and their families, but also students, physicians, and my nurse colleagues.”
|