Naval Medical Center San Diego celebrates Perioperative Nurses Week by acknowledging the amazing work our outstanding nurses continually provide to our patients.

Perioperative nurses play an integral role in the operating room making sure logistics are cared for and provide much needed assistance to the operating surgeons and nurses during surgeries.

“As a perioperative nurse you’re there to own the room, own the space, make sure everybody has what they need”, said LT Margaret Taylor, NMCSD Clinical Nurse Specialist. “You learn about everything from what the instruments are called to safety precautions within the operating room, how to correctly position the patient, how to prep the skin, for the surgery that you’re having. We also learn how to help our anesthesia team, at the head of the bed during intubation and extubation, as that can be a tricky time. You want to make sure that you’re providing an extra set of hands, and aware of how to help them do their job. And so that the patient has what they need. You make sure the patient is safe to go in for the surgery.”

Not only are these nurses trained to assist in multiple forms of technology, sterilization processes, safety caution procedures and prep, they are also the runners who make certain there are no loose ends.

“If there’s something that comes up that we didn’t discuss in the beginning of the case, then we’re out running for it,” said Taylor. “We bring it into the room. There’s also some logistics that goes back and forth. We’re constantly talking to the family, we’re talking to the PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit), we’re just a moving train, just constantly bringing the patients in and out and making sure everything’s good to go at a fast pace, making sure that we can get everything done that needs to be done.”

While these nurses are not performing the surgeries themselves, NMCSD understands and values the vital role the nurses continue to fill day in and day out.

“It’s nice to have a week because our nurses grind a lot,” expressed Taylor. “We’re always constantly grinding, so to have a week set aside, having recognition for the work that you’ve put in from everyone, not just nurses, but the surgeons and the techs and nine seater providers, everyone in the community is just like, ‘Hey, thank you for what you do’.”

NMCSD wishes our perioperative nurses a wonderful end to Perioperative Nurses Week!

NMCSD mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Navy story by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Raphael McCorey)