- Prepare and maintain the operating room workplace.
- Assist surgeons and anaesthetists during surgical procedures.
- Ensure surgical instruments and supplies are sterile and ready for use.
- Monitor patients’ vital signs and respond to emergencies.
- Provide preoperative and postoperative care to patients.
- Maintain accurate patient records and documentation.
- Coordinate with other healthcare professionals for optimal patient care.
- Key Roles of an OT Nurse
- Scrub Nurse (Sterile Role):
- Performs surgical hand scrubs and wears sterile attire to work directly within the sterile field.
- Hand instruments, sutures, and supplies to the surgeon.
- Maintains the sterility of the field and manages surgical specimens.
- Conducts strict pre-, intra-, and post-operative counts of sponges, needles, and instruments alongside the circulating nurse.
- Circulating Nurse (Non-Sterile Role):
- Manages overall room safety, equipment setup, and environmental controls (such as temperature and lighting).
- Verifies patient identity, surgical consent, and checks before the procedure begins.
- Assists the anesthesia team with patient positioning and monitoring.
- Acts as a communication liaison between the surgical suite and external departments
- Pre-Operative / Reception Nurse:
- Receives the patient, checks medical records, and confirms surgical site markings.
- Monitors pre-op comfort, administers prescribed medications, and manages safe transfers into the OT
- Recovery / Post-Operative Nurse:
- Monitors vital signs, oxygen levels, bleeding, and level of consciousness every 5 minutes in the recovery unit.
- Coordinates safe handovers to intensive care units (ICUs) or regular wards once the patient stabilizes
- Infection Control and Management:
- Enforces strict hospital hygiene, sterilization (via CSSD coordination), and biomedical waste disposal protocols