Circulating nurses monitor the sterile field and ensure patient safety during surgery. They perform various tasks and work closely with operating room nurses. They do not need to be sterile but must adhere to cleanliness protocols. Training and continuing education are necessary for this nursing career.
A circulating nurse is a type of surgical nurse who circulates in the operating room to monitor the procedure. He or she acts as a patient advocate, ensuring that conditions in the operating room remain safe and sterile. Circulating nurses also perform a wide variety of other tasks, ranging from helping set up the operating room for surgery to completing paperwork related to the surgery. This nursing career requires close attention to detail and a lot of stamina as circulating nurses need to be present and active during a surgery.
In an operating room, there are two areas: the sterile operating field and the non-sterile area. During surgery, the goal is to keep the operating field totally sterile for patient safety. Circulating nurses monitor the sterile field, notifying operating room personnel when anything could compromise sterility. They also connect people in the sterile field with the non-sterile area. For example, a shift nurse may open an autoclaved package so that someone in the operating room can access the sterile instrument inside.
The other type of surgical nurse is an operating room nurse, a nurse who scrubs so that she can work in the surgical field, assisting the surgeon. Duty nurses also monitor patient safety and sterile field safety while acting as assistant surgeons and generally work closely with the circulating nurse throughout the procedure. Keeping the lines of communication open within the surgical team is crucial so that emerging issues can be addressed quickly and professionally.
Because the circulating nurse works in a nonsterile field, this surgical team member does not need to be sterile. For patient safety, however, the circulating nurse and other staff members in the non-sterile area typically wear face masks, keep their hair contained under surgical caps, and take other steps to avoid compromising cleanliness in the operating room.
To work as a circulating nurse, a nurse generally must attend nursing school and receive specific training in surgical nursing. He or she must also be very familiar with hospital policies and procedures, and continuing education must often be attended as well to ensure that the shift nurse is up to date with emerging information in the field of surgery. Circulating nurses also need not be afraid to challenge procedures they deem unsafe or to inform surgeons that they have been contaminated by touching a non-sterile person, instrument or area, so they should exit the sterile field and scrub again before resuming surgery. surgery.
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