The Meaning of Being a Perioperative Nurse
The field of registered nursing is the largest occupational sector of the health care industry, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Registered nurses may choose to focus on a particularly nursing specialty including perioperative nursing. Perioperative nurses focus on providing nursing care to patients before, during and after they undergo surgery.
Other People Are Reading
-
Function
-
Perioperative nurses work as integral members of a health care facility's surgical team along with other medical professionals such as the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. Perioperative nurses may fill a variety of functions on the surgical team including the circulator nurse, the scrub nurse, the registered nurse first assistant (RNFA), the operating room director and the patient educator, according to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN).
Features
-
Perioperative nurses are responsible for providing nursing care to surgical patients in all aspects: psychological, physiological, sociological, spiritual and cultural factors, according toAORN. Perioperative nurses require professional level interpersonal, organizational and clinical skills in order to ensure the safety of the patient throughout all phases of surgery. Duties of a perioperative nurse may include caring for patients before, during, and after surgery, acting as an advocate for the patient's best interests and communicating with the patient's family.
-
Education
-
Perioperative nursing is a specialty field of registered nursing. According to the BLS there there three educational pathways leading to licensure as a registered nurse. Students may earn a diploma from through an accredited hospital training program. Students may earn an associate degree in nursing through an accredited two-year community college program. Students may earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) through a traditional accredited four-year college or university. Candidates for licensure as a registered nurse must also pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) and meet any other requirements of the board of nursing of the state in which they wish to practice. Certification as a perioperative nurse (CNOR) requires two years of experience and 2,400 hours of practice as a registered nurse in a perioperative field, according to the Competency and Credentialing Institute.
Benefits
-
Job opportunities within the entire registered nursing profession are expected to grow by approximately 22 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to the BLS. As of 2010, many sophisticated surgical procedures are being performed in doctor's offices and surgical clinics in addition to hospitals, which broadens the employment options for perioperative nurses, according to the BLS. Perioperative nurses who are willing to work in regions that have been traditionally underserved by the medical community, such as rural and inner-city areas, will find the greatest number of job opportunities.
Income
-
The BLS estimates the median annual income for all registered nurses as of May 2008 to be approximately $62,450. Nurses working in surgical hospitals averaged a bit more at approximately $63,880. Perioperative nurses who earned the Certified Nurse Operating Room (CNOR) credential may earn up to $9,200 per year more than their uncertified counterparts, according to AORN.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit operation nurse image by Andrey Rakhmatullin from Fotolia.com
