How to Become a Perioperative Nurse
A perioperative nurse cares for surgical patients before, during and after the operation. These tasks include attending to their physical, logistical and emotional issues. Relating information to their family and loved ones is also important. Perioperative nurses report on all that transpires during their surgical care, including meticulous recording of vital signs, diagnostic tests and lab results, surgery dressing changes and medications. The overall assessment and any alerts in condition change for the physician are vital. This dedicated career choice is in big demand in the health-care field and pays well.
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Instructions
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Acquire the basic nursing education and take the required boards to establish your competency as a registered nurse (R.N.). This is a prerequisite for gaining your credentials in perioperative nursing.
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Focus on the field of perioperative nursing after you have assisted or shadowed someone in this area. In most cases, a facility will provide or pay for in-house training. In doing so, the facility may require a one- or two-year commitment. However, many of these hospitals typically end up offering positions to the experienced operating room nurses that go through their program.
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Use supplemental videos and textbooks during the periop classroom phase. These sources reinforce the hands-on training you'll receive from the educational resources. Graduates typically receive 60 continuing education units and a certificate upon completion of the courses.
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Orient after the nine-week course. This consists of six weeks of rotating through various perioperative-related services in the medical facility. After this preceptorship, you become a perioperative staff nurse.
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Access the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Periop 101 online course for first-time licensees. The course monitors students in 23 modules. The instructor meets with each student for skills and hands-on guidance. After completing the online option, which is a new offering, students can attain their certification.
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Take the required continuing education courses when applicable. Aside from your credentials, focused periop training and eventual experience, you'll also need a special compassion and caring spirit. Handling stressful situations that call for critical judgments are a part of the perioperative nurse's daily routine.
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Tips & Warnings
Periop 101 is considered a trademark of AORN, Inc., which is an accredited provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
A recommended classroom video is "Alexander's Care of Patients in Surgery."
The most-recommended classroom textbook is "AORN's Standards, Recommended Practices and Guidelines.".
References
Resources
- Photo Credit operation nurse image by Andrey Rakhmatullin from Fotolia.com
