How Nurses Benefit from Working in the OR
Being a nurse is a tough but rewarding profession. Caring for people and helping them get back into full health are just some of the things that make it fulfilling for many. But some nurses choose to take it to another level and challenge themselves by being an operating room (OR) nurse.
OR nurses – also known as scrub nurses – help in the pre-operative, intraoperative and post-operative stages of the surgical procedure. Assisting doctors inside an operating room, OR nurses use their skills to help not only the doctors but also the patients who, after the procedure, will be under their care.
For nurses, working in the OR is a challenge that will prove to have a lot of contributions to their overall development as medical professionals. Here are some reasons why nurses should try out being in the operating room:
1. OR nurses see through a patient’s progress from start to finish
Patients put a lot of their trust in nurses, who help not just in everyday monitoring and small matters but also in larger medical decisions that help in their treatment.
OR nurses help in the process by prepping a patient before surgery and assisting in other pre-operative assessments. After this, the nurse is also there assisting throughout the procedure, learning everything that needs to be known about the patient’s condition. After the surgery, they provide care and assistance until the patient is fully recovered.
2. OR nurses build a special bond with their patients
Full care of a person from pre- to post-operative stage helps not only in building experience for full patient care, but it also creates a special bond between nurses and patients. OR nurses have the opportunity to have a meaningful effect in a patient’s overall health and wellness.
3. OR nurses work closely with surgeons, obstetricians and other physicians
A large part of a scrub nurse’s job is to assist doctors inside the operating room, often handling instruments under the direction of physicians, and assisting in monitoring patients throughout the procedure. This requires nurses to learn new skills and be responsible for certain areas of an operation.
4. OR nurses get to make important decisions on the patient’s care
Apart from that, a crucial role of an OR nurse is the collaboration with the physicians inside the room. An OR nurse is valuable as he or she can even assist in a doctor’s decision-making process.
This puts a nurse at a great advantage, as the learnings inside an operating room can be added knowledge as a nurse pursues further his or her career in medicine and caregiving.
5. The operating room will make you grow mentally, physically and emotionally
Working in an OR is a physically demanding job. It can require hours of being on your feet, shuffling back and forth in a fast-paced environment and having to stay on top of things with very little sleep (or none at all). This makes the work mentally tasking as well, as you’re expected to make life-saving decisions in a heartbeat.
But the challenge of overcoming this and working hard to help out other people will give you the most rewarding feeling. At the end of the day, it will help you mature not only professionally but also personally. It gives you the strength to continue working, as well as the purpose to keep striving in giving your best.
In many ways, working as a scrub nurse helps develop maturity, grit and strength of character. And in the end, it will lead you to becoming the best nurse and health professional you could possibly be.
Published at: 07/01/2015
