A surgical nurse focuses primarily on the mental and physical wellness of patients before, during and after surgery. A surgical nurse’s other duties may include documenting patients’ vitals, distributing medications to patients, performing physical examinations, and ensuring that the medical history of each patient is complete and documented in each patient’s medical chart. These nurses also might be in charge of the release process and paperwork involved for patients that are assigned to them.
There is always a demand for nurses, so qualified surgical nurses have no problems finding work once their education and training are completed.
Locations Where Surgical Nurses Work
There will be stress involved in working as a surgical nurse. To avoid stress as much as possible in this line of work, you should consider where you will feel most at ease. Decide whether or not you like to work alone or if you like to work with others. Fortunately, there are a lot of different options available to a well-qualified surgical nurse; for example, you could work in the emergency department, the lab, the surgery department, the surgery recovery rooms, or the computer data input department.
If you thrive in stressful situations and you like to work in a fast-paced, high-energy environment, then the emergency department might be ideal for you. If you are unable or unwilling to deal with a lot of stress, you might want to consider working in a small clinic or a hospital that is in a small city versus a larger city.
Salary for a Medical Surgical Nurse
The average salary for a surgical nurse is $74,197 per year. This salary can vary quite a bit depending on the region where the nurses work. But half of all surgical nurses earn between $65,000 and $80,000 per year. As time goes on and you acquire more experience, you will have opportunities for higher positions and higher pay. All nurses who graduate will begin their careers in the surgical nursing field; after several years of experience, they will usually have the option to move on to other areas in the nursing or medical field.
Surgical Nurse versus Surgical Tech
These two terms are sometimes confused, but the positions are actually quite different. A surgical nurse works with patients before, during and after surgery. A surgical nurse also follows up with her patients regarding any additional care or therapy they may need after the surgery is over. Surgical techs, on the other hand, mainly work in an operating room. They assist with surgeries and sometimes are required to observe surgical procedures.
Guide to Becoming a Surgical Nurse
You will begin by enrolling in and completing one of three courses of study. You can choose from:
- A diploma program in nursing,
- An associate’s degree in nursing,
- A bachelor’s degree in nursing.
There will be a certain amount of hours of medical and surgical laboratory training required in this course of study. The labs are supervised by professionals who work and have experience in the medical-surgical field.
Following your coursework, you’ll need to take the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). A medical-surgical nurse can go a step further and get board certified. There are two places to obtain this certification: ANCC (American Nurse Credentialing Center) or MSNCB (Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board).
As with most medical careers, after a medical degree is acquired, a surgical nurse will be required to attend meetings, workshops, and classes in order to stay caught up on medical changes and in order to stay certified. Also, a nurse must take additional classes and receive training in order to be able to hand out medicine to patients. You can find information on these continuing education programs through many online universities.
Online nursing programs may be an ideal choice as they have everything students need. Each class has a certified professor to teach the class. Each class has online text readings, resources for study enhancement, and a discussion group with classmates. Another great thing about going to school online for a surgical nurse degree is the opportunity to network with other students and the professors, but the best part of it all is to be able to attend class right from home. A person can attend class in sweatpants if they choose to. A person can save a lot of money, as they do not have to travel back and forth to classes.
Whether you enroll in online nursing school or take your classes at a traditional campus, there are professionals available to you and they can help you decide which specialty will be best for you. Online nursing courses have excellent mentoring programs, so you’ll always have someone who can help you decide which course of study will benefit you the most. Many online nursing degree programs also offer classes in stress management.
The only part of the education in which a person will be required to travel will be the nursing internship (some colleges and universities use the name “externship”), classroom laboratories, and the required exam(s) after graduation.
A surgical nursing career is a fulfilling one. Seeing patients enter a medical facility before surgery and watching the patients recover and go home after surgery, knowing that they had someone there to help them recover, physically, mentally and emotionally, can be very rewarding.