A very important member of the operating room team is the registered nurse.  He or she is your advocate when you come to the operating room area. These nurses go through an extensive training course in addition to their initial nursing training in order to care for you in the operating room.  The nurse in the room keeps track of every detail that happens in the room in order to keep you safe.

A primary responsibility of the OR nurse is to chart everything that goes on in the room.  Before the operation, you will likely meet many nurses, but the most important one is the one that will come visit you just before you go to the operating room and will accompany you in the room throughout the operation and then care for you until you get to the recovery area. In the preoperative area this nurse will ask you a number of important questions that will help the nurse assess the best positioning, medicines, and other necessary care items that might be needed for your case.  It will help the nurse know who you are as an individual, which will help the nurse to work along with the other team members, and guide your care in the operating room. If you have questions the nurse will be able to answer them for you before the operation. A primary responsibility of the OR nurse is to chart everything that goes on in the room.  

Many nurses are also trained to help directly with the operation. These nurses are called scrub nurses. They will prepare the sterile instruments and supplies for the operation and will hand them to the surgeon as he works. In this case there will be another nurse that will care for the other duties that were mentioned above. 

Nurses are like the glue that binds the OR team together. They pay attention to what each team member is doing and needs, and help each team member to care for their role, as well as look after you, the patient, with the greatest of care and concern. These nurses are a great asset to you and the entire OR team.