A Day in the Life of a Surgery Nurse in the Operating Room (OR)

Surgical nursing is unlike any other nursing specialty or unit. The operating room (OR) is a team based unit where patients undergo surgical procedures. If you’re a nurse who is fascinated by anatomy and physiology, enjoys fast-paced daily tasks, and has a knack for remembering details, then the OR may be the perfect unit for you!

One of the best parts about the OR is taking care of one patient at a time. OR nurses can only care for one patient during surgery. Each day, they are assigned to an OR and assist with the surgeries scheduled in that room for the whole day. OR nurses work closely with scrub technologists (also called scrubs or scrub techs) to help surgical teams perform surgery.

Surgical Specialties

OR nurses are trained to work in all of the different surgical specialties. This means that they understand the different types of procedures, required surgical equipment for each procedure, and know how to prepare the OR for surgery. Examples surgical specialties include:

• Bariatrics

• Cardiac

• Colorectal

• Ear, nose, and throat (ENT)

• Eyes

• General (surgeries that occur in the abdomen or for the major organs)

• Gynecological

• Neurological and spine

• Orthopedic

• Plastics

• Robotics

• Thoracic

• Trauma

• Vascular

Depending on the setting where the OR nurse is trained, nurses learn about all of the specialties or only some of them (surgery centers may be specialized in one type of surgery such as a plastic surgery center). Typically, nurses are drawn to specific specialties and everyone has  love-it and hate-it specialties. Some nurses even learn to scrub into surgery to assist the surgical team in place of a scrub tech. This skill must be taught and is learned specifically within each specialty.

Daily Assignments

The charge nurse in the OR is the organizer of the daily surgical schedule and assignments. At the beginning of the shift, nurses and scrub techs check in to see where they are assigned for the day. A nurse is assigned with a scrub tech or a nurse who scrubs. Typically they are a team for the whole shift or until cases are finished in that room for the day.

Nurses are usually assigned into their main specialty or one of their secondary specialties. Some places work in a team formation and they know which specialty they will be assigned to work in each day (for example you’re on the Ortho Team or on the Colorectal Team). Other places don’t have a large enough unit to be specialized into teams. This means that the nurses and scrub techs have to be knowledgeable in all of the specialties.

What Do OR Nurses Do?

Surgical nurses function as circulating nurses, working around the sterile field in the OR. Some tasks the circulator is responsible for include:

• Gathering appropriate equipment and supplies to start the surgical procedure

• Charting the details of the surgical procedure such as the start/end times and charging for supplies used during the case.

• Performing and documenting surgical counts with scrubbed personnel to prevent retained foregin bodies in a patient.

• Managing specimen collection and proper labeling of specimens recovered in surgery to be sent to the lab for diagnosis.

• Properly and safely positioning the patient for surgery to adequately expose the surgical site while preventing injuries and falls.

• Leading and participating in the official surgical time out to verify the correct patient, correct surgery, on the correct site, with all available supplies and instruments.

• Documenting implants and explants (plates, screws, mesh, etc.)

While the previous list is not all encompassing, it does demonstrate the differences in daily tasks for OR nurses compared to nurses working in other units. The anesthesia team performs more of the direct patient care that is usually thought of as nurse responsibilities such as monitoring vital signs, administering medications, and more advanced skills that include managing the airway, giving anesthetics, and placing nerve blocks.

The OR is a chilly fast-paced environment where nurses collaborate with scrub techs and anesthesia to help the surgical team perform safe and efficient surgery. It can be challenging to learn each of the specialties, all of the required equipment, and keep track of surgeon preferences. It is a very rewarding specialty at the same time because patients seem to get immediate results一the femur was broken and now it’s fixed, or the patient had a kidney stone and now it is removed).

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to change specialties to work in the OR? Reach out to an EARN recruiter today to schedule a 15-minute virtual meeting with peer nurses to start the process!

Written by Blyss Splane BSN RN CNOR

Blyss Splane has been a surgical nurse for almost 10 years, including a period of time as a travel nurse. She is the owner and CEO of Nurse Splane Writes, where she writes articles for healthcare and nursing websites in addition to editing the work of other authors. She lives northeast of Atlanta with her family and cock-a-poo dog.