The nursing profession, while deeply rewarding, is fraught with unique stressors that can significantly impact mental health and well-being. This article aims to provide an overview of the problem, highlight key risk factors, and outline actionable prevention steps.
Periop nurses carry a weight of responsibility that extends far beyond the sterile environment. Periop nursing demands expertise, focus, and critical thinking under pressure within a high-stress environment. Daily encounters with trauma, patient suffering, and life-or-death situations make perioperative nurses susceptible to vicarious trauma (VT). This article provides perspective on VT, examines its relevance to perioperative nursing, and offers strategies to mitigate its effects.
Becoming a nurse in the OR is a big step! It's exciting, but it's also normal to feel stressed or anxious as you get used to this new environment.
In this special edition, we have provided tools and resources to help you and your team members talk about mental health.
This article discusses the importance of teamwork in the operating room, acknowledging that no procedure can succeed without collaboration among surgical staff.
Learn four steps that you can take to effectively develop an assertive attitude that will allow you to be the advocate that you need to be in the OR—both for your patients and for your team members.
My career in perioperative nursing spans over 30 years, during which I have experienced many significant milestones that have shaped my professional journey and gained many insights that I believe are worth sharing.
Codes are very stressful and emotional situations for everyone involved. Regardless of the outcome, sometimes you must keep going with your day.
During your perioperative career, it is likely that you will encounter many situations that will challenge your surgical conscience.
As a perioperative nurse, you can mentally put yourself into a situation and think, “What would I have done?”
Take care of yourself when going through loss: participate in debriefs, talk with a friend or therapist, take a break, and learn what you can to keep growing.
With The Stitch, our hope was that novice nurses would have a supportive community to turn to for advice, tips and tricks, and new learning opportunities to bridge the knowledge-to-practice gap.
Resources may be strained, but this is a time for resourcefulness and teamwork.
One nurse talks about advocating for a patient on his family's behalf.
Homework involves collecting the correct supplies and instruments for a case, knowing the basics of the type of surgery to be performed, and preparing for the “what ifs.”
Take some time to reflect and discover what it is that motivates you. Dig deep and find your purpose. And answer this question for yourself, “Why do I work in the OR?”
One nurse shares her journey to becoming a perioperative nurse.
A fire risk assessment should be done prior to the start of every case, and the fire risk should be discussed with the entire surgical team during the time out.
