Sometimes called an Operating Room Nurse, Perioperative Nurses care for patients before, during and after surgery. They work alongside surgical teams to make sure that patients are receiving the best possible care, and serve as liaisons between the surgical team and the patients’ families. As a Perioperative Nurse, you’ll help patients with recovery immediately following surgery and teach them, and their families, about at-home postoperative care.
Things You'll Do:
- Interview and assess patients on the day of surgery
- Monitor patients and coordinate care during surgery
- Maintain a sterile operating room during surgery
- Give patients recovery tips for home
Your job characteristics:
- Multifaceted
- Structured
- Patient-facing
How You'll Get There
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Get YourBachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
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Pass YourNational Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN)
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You can start working as a Registered Nurse.
More about becoming an RN › -
Get experience working in critical care and in the emergency room, and take continuing education courses in areas like patient assessment, intraoperative activites, discharge planning, emergency situations and sterilization.
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Pass YourCertified Nurse Operating Room (CNOR) certification exam through the Association of Perioperative Nurses (AORN)
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Become aCertified Perioperative Nurse
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With advanced degrees, nurses with a perioperative background can work as operating room directors, RN First Assistants, clinical educators and Nurse Anesthetists.
Learn about becoming a Nurse Anesthetist ›
More About this Specialty
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Meet Wallena
read her history
A CRNA
She was an auditor in New York City before she chose a career in nursing. "I wanted to give back on a daily basis, and be part of a caring profession.
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How Much You
Can Makean average salary of
$42K - $56Kfind salary by stateWhat Else You
Can Expect- As a Perioperative Nurse, you can work as a scrub nurse, a circulating nurse, an operating room charge nurse and an outpatient surgery nurse.
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