Intraoperative Nursing: Roles and Responsibilities for Patient Safety

This report provides a detailed overview of intraoperative nursing care, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of three key operating room nurses: the anesthetist, the scrub nurse, and the circulating nurse. The report defines the intraoperative period and explains the responsibilities of each nurse in maintaining patient safety, maintaining an aseptic environment, ensuring correct instrument counts, and proper patient positioning. The anesthetist's role includes anesthesia induction and patient assessment. The scrub nurse prepares the surgical setup and assists the surgeon. The circulating nurse manages the operating room and monitors the patient's vital signs and aseptic techniques. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of safety protocols such as proper patient positioning and the application of safety devices. References from nursing journals are included to support the information provided.

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INTRAOPERATIVE NURSING CARE
Roles and Responsibilities of 3 operating
room Nurses in maintaining patient
safety during Intraoperative periods

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Definition
•Period of time when the patient is
transferred to the operating table to when
they are admitted to the post anesthesia
unit. Steve is diagnosed with recto-
sigmoid carcinoma and he is prepared for
an anterior resection+/-temporary
ileostomy. The three operating room
nurses need to take care of him prior and
after his operation

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Roles and responsibilities
During Steve’s surgery, the three operating room nurses
‘anesthetist, scrub nurse and circulating nurse’ roles and
responsibilities are:
•Maintain aseptic environment (Luck & Gillespie, 2017)
•To maintain safety
•Transfer the patient to operating room or table
•Make sure that the instrument count is correct
•Complete documentation of the patient
•To position the patient in correct alignment (Bengtsson,
Johansson & Englund, 2016)

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Anesthetist
•He or she provides smooth induction of anesthesia
to a patient. The anesthetist will visit Steve prior to surgery
and answer all his question. He or she will also allay any fears
that Steve has. He or she will then asses Steve to know which
form of anesthesia Steve needs and then finally induce the
anesthesia prior to surgery (Brodin, Hellzén & Häggström, 2017
Scrub Nurse
•In charge of preparing the surgical set-up. The scrub nurse needs to prepare the instruments
and equipments for Steve’s surgery. He or she also needs to assist the surgeon in scrubbing
before the surgery. During Steve’s surgery the scrub nurse is present and assists the surgeon
by handing instruments, sponges, drains and other equipment. Finally as Steve’s incision is
being closed, the scrub nurse needs to keep a count of all instruments to ensure none are left
in the incision (Brown, Edwards, Seaton & Buckley, 2017).

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Circulating Nurse.
Manages the operating room and ensures safety and health of the patient. Before Steve’s
surgery, the circulating nurse needs to ensure the operating room is clean by completely
sterilizing it (Fahey, 2016). He or she also needs to check all equipments prior to surgery to
make sure
they are working properly. As Steve is undergoing surgery, the circulating nurse needs to
closely monitor him to ensure his vital signs are good and stable.
Also the circulating nurse needs to monitor closely the aseptic technique being used
during Steve’s surgery (Eyi, Kanan, Akyolcu, Akın & Acaroğlu, 2016).

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Conclusion
In conclusion nurses are required to
•Ensure safety is the highest priority
•Place feet simultaneously to prevent hip dislocation.
•To always apply knee strap
•Place arms not more than 90 degrees
•Apply cautery pad which is used to stop bleeding

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References
Bengtsson, Y., Johansson, A., & Englund, E. (2016). Nurse anaesthetists’ experiences of the first
intraoperative meeting with anxious adult patients: An interview study. Nordic Journal
of Nursing Research, 36(3), 148-154.
Brodin, K., Hellzén, O., & Häggström, M. (2017). Intraoperative Care of the Conscious Patient
from the Perspective of the Operating Theatre Nurse: A Grounded Theory. Open
Journal of Nursing, 7(09), 1086.
Brown, D., Edwards, H., Seaton, L., & Buckley, T. (2017). Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing:
Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Eyi, S., Kanan, N., Akyolcu, N., Akın, M. L., & Acaroğlu, R. (2016). Evaluation of intraoperative
nursing care by patient. TAF Preventive Medicine Bulletin, 15(2), 159-170.
Fahey, V. A. (2016). Vascular Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Hertel-Joergensen, M., Abrahamsen, C., & Jensen, C. (2018). Translation, adaptation and
psychometric validation of the Good Perioperative Nursing Care Scale (GPNCS) with surgical
patients in perioperative care. International journal of orthopaedic and trauma nursing.
Luck, E. S., & Gillespie, B. M. (2017). Technological Advancements in the OR: Do We Need to
Redefine Intraoperative Nursing Roles?. AORN journal, 106(4), 280-282.