Cover Story

The role of the sterile processing department (SPD) is vital when it comes to ensuring patient safety. The SPD is responsible for ensuring that surgical instruments are cleaned, inspected and reprocessed (including high-level disinfection and sterilization) before being returned to the operating room.

It’s no secret that hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and other health care facilities have been experiencing nurse staffing challenges lately because of the nationwide nursing shortage and ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations are turning to travel nurses as one strategy to meet these challenges.

Engagement is just as important in the perioperative field as it is in any other industry. Many health care organizations today are making nurse engagement a priority to combat nurse fatigue and burnout, increase retention rates, boost patient satisfaction scores and improve patient outcomes and safety.

Despite its challenges, many OR nurses believe that theirs is the greatest career in the world. So, we asked some perioperative nurses to share with us why they love their jobs. Following are their responses. 

AORN provides ongoing education about surgical smoke, including the AORN Go Clear program. “This is a comprehensive approach to protecting patient and worker safety by promoting a smoke-free environment wherever surgical smoke is generated,” says Pennock.