First of all, what is a scrub nurse? A scrub nurse works in either a private practice or a hospital and provides medical care to surgical patients. This medical professional offers direct assistance to patients and is also trained to give medications and therapy while under the supervision of a licensed physician. Scrub nurses help doctors with surgical procedures, providing them with the proper instruments at the proper time, and are responsible for monitoring the vital signs of a patient, ensuring the sterility of the operating room, handling some operating equipment and giving pre- and post-operative care to the patient. If you think scrub nursing jobs sound interesting, use these tips to better understand the intense nurse training required, and how to go about getting the proper nursing education. Here’s how to become a scrub nurse.
- Personality Traits. First of all, it’s important that you assess whether you have what it takes to be a scrub nurse. To be successful in this nursing profession, you need to be detail oriented and precise, and you also need to be able to adapt well to potentially stressful situations. You need to have high stamina to withstand the daily pressures of being in the healthcare industry.
- Education. Getting a strong nursing education is crucial to becoming a scrub nurse. You have to earn your nursing degree from an institution accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. There are three popular ways of doing this:
- You can go through universities and colleges for a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. (This is the ideal and traditional route for nursing education.)
- You can attend community colleges for a two- to three-year program for an associate’s degree in nursing. (This is a good way to get practical and hands-on training without spending a long time in school.)
- Lastly, you can go through hospitals for a one-year hospital diploma program. (Here you will work in direct contact with the professionals in the industry, including other nurses.)
Prior to enrollment however, you should check with the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, Inc (NLNAC) to determine if the institution where you want to enroll in is accredited or not. - Examination. The nursing licensure examination in the United States is the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN); passing this will qualify you to start a nursing career.
- Specialize. Before obtaining a specialization, you need to have at least one year’s experience as a general nurse. A smart move is to let your supervisors know of your intention to become a scrub nurse in the future. This way, you can be given duties to prepare you for this specialized nurse career.
- Certification. To go into the specialization as a scrub nurse, you’ll need to enroll in a certificate course for scrub nurses. It is very important that you check if the program that you are enrolling in is accredited; you could ask the other scrub nurses at the hospital you are working in about their recommended accrediting institutions. You can find various certification programs online. Some of the certifications may be for Surgical Services Management and Surgical Services Educator.
Scrub nurses—especially one’s with experience and training in a variety of procedures—are much in demand. Salaries can range from $57,000 to 81,000. The median income is $69,000.
Remember, being a scrub nurse can be quite taxing, but if you are prepared for the demands of nursing as a profession, you will find this to be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding jobs out there. In a scrub nurse career, you are directly involved in important ways in patient care, before, during and after potentially life-saving procedures.