Describe the Surgical Team in the Operating Room

Highly trained surgical teams are responsible for patient care throughout the surgical process.

In hospital operating rooms, the surgical team handles patient care before, during and after surgery. The team consists of specialists who have undergone training specific to their role on the team. The surgical team is responsible for patient safety and pain control for emergency and elective procedures.

Identification

Surgical teams are made up of experts in operating, managing pain, and patient care. Teams will typically include a surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist and operating room nurse.

Function

Each member of the surgical team is responsible for a specific role. The surgeon performs the operative procedure, and is a physician who completed additional training after medical school. Anesthesiologists focus on pain management and safety of the patient; they usually have contact with the patient during all of the surgical phases (preoperative, operative and postoperative).

The anesthesiologist is assisted by a nurse anesthetist, a registered nurse who has undergone specialized training and has passed a certification exam. The nurse anesthetist is the team member who monitors the patient's body functions during a surgical procedure. Functioning as a surgical assistant, the operating room nurse is an important part of the surgical team, and provides comprehensive care throughout the procedure.

Types

The number of surgical team members can vary depending on the type of procedure being performed. Less invasive surgeries, such as laparoscopies, do not require large incisions and use smaller teams than complex surgeries, such as organ transplants.

Fact

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that more than 50 million outpatient surgical procedures were performed in the US in 2006. New surgical advances, such as use of cameras and probes during surgery, have made these less invasive procedures more prevalent; however, they require surgical team members to have solid technological skills.

Considerations

In teaching hospitals, traditional surgical teams are often larger and may include nursing interns and medical residents who are present in the operation room for training purposes.

References

• Surgery Encyclopedia: Surgical Team
• University of Maryland Medical Center: Surgical Team
• CDC: Ambulatory Surgery in the US