Peri-operative nurse’s week

But, but, mister, what does a peri-operative nurse do.

Well, I’m glad you asked that, Billy. Well, you see I don’t rightly know. When I went in for surgery there was a nurse and a tech and the doctor and anesthesia in the operating room. But there was another nurse before who helped me get ready and yet another nurse when I woke up. But hell if I know what they all do.

No one knows.

And we like it that way.

All jokes aside, a quick google search revealed conflicting answers.

To the Mayo Clinic, the peri-operative nurse works with patients prior to surgery, to complete paperwork, to help answer any questions and to calm the fears of patients.

To the National Institutes of Health, the key responsibility of the peri-operative nurse is to maintain a sterile environment for the patient and the surgical team. Before, during and after surgery.

To Johnson and Johnson the peri-operative nurse provides care and guidance to patients during their surgical journey by doing pre and post op assessments, managing post op pain and side effects, but they also have a specialized role in the intra-op phase.

See, clear as mud. And contradictory.

All of these examples are correct but they don’t tell the whole story.

I often tell patients that the circulator, one of the type of peri-operative nurses, is the wall that functions to protect the patient from everyone else. The surgeon, anesthesia, reps, disease causing germs… everyone and everything.

Yes, we do do it all.

And smile while doing it.

We’ll be there, by your side, every step of the operative journey.

It’s what we do.