Who “O.R.” We!
Who “O.R.” We today? We are a multidisciplinary team of specialists who practice together to provide the best care during the surgical experience for our patients. Surgical interventions that previously could only be performed in an operating room environment, are now being done in other areas of the hospital, such as Interventional Radiology, Cardiac Catheterization Labs, or specific care outpatient centres such as Cancer Centres and Eye Centres, and mobile units. A multidisciplinary team of specialists who have the skills and abilities not found in the toolkits of general healthcare professionals use a defined environment, special instrumentation, and equipment specifically designed for each surgical intervention. You will practice alongside nurses, physicians, technicians from many disciplines, students in different healthcare fields, and many others.
The perioperative nurse, as part of this team, applies their nursing knowledge of the patient and the surgical intervention using the nursing process.
The Perioperative Nurse and the Nursing Process
The perioperative nurse, as part of this team, applies their nursing knowledge of the patient and the surgical intervention using the nursing process. By assessing the patient, preparing nursing diagnoses that are appropriate for the patient and the intervention; planning care and determining expected outcomes; implementing the plan, and evaluating it against the expected outcomes, the perioperative nurse practices to his/her full scope.
This short video is just to remind you of the nursing process and the critical thinking that you will use in the perioperative setting. This video focusses on the Assessment phase which is vital to your understanding the needs of your patient. The Five Step Nursing Process Explained | Intro to ADPIE | Lecturio Nursing – YouTube You are encouraged to watch the remaining videos in this series as you choose.
The Perioperative Environment
Today, the perioperative environment may be found in many places other than acute care hospitals. This is a result of advances in technology related to instruments and equipment that have allowed for smaller incisions, minimally invasive procedures, and/or more complex surgical interventions. Wherever the procedure is being performed there will be commonalities.
The Perioperative Environment is Controlled
The perioperative environment is a controlled environment. The purpose of controlling the environment is to mitigate risk to the patient. There are expected parameters within the environment related to air quality control, electrical control, noise, traffic, equipment, and instrumentation. Each of these will be discussed further in the modules of this course.
The Perioperative Environment is focused on Teamwork
You will also discover that the perioperative environment is where many healthcare disciplines and organizational staff work together very closely. In one surgical case alone you may encounter nurses, physicians (surgeons and anesthesiologists), respiratory technologists, anesthetic assistants, registered nurse first assistants, perfusionists, physician assistants, medical reprocessing technicians, medical radiation technologists, environmental services staff, and healthcare industry representatives.