A theatre nurse works alongside healthcare professionals such as surgeons, anaesthetists, operating department practitioners (OCDP), porters and theatre support workers as part of their team. Their duties are to care for patients of all ages before, during or after their surgery. This type of nursing is also known as perioperative care.
Some of the duties of a theatre nurse are to be involved in all four steps of a patient’s journey:
One catastrophic effect of COVID-19 has been the mass cancellation of elective surgery. Consequently, there’s a significant backlog of planned surgery. In November 2020, according to a report in the BMJ, the number of patients waiting for treatment reached a record high of 4.46 million. And in 2021, it was estimated that 2.3 million people waiting for surgery.
In addition, a recent report by the Royal College of Surgeons recommended scheduling modifications to increase hospital capacity, including extending hours of elective surgery into the evening and during weekends.
As surgeons attempt to shorten their waiting lists and get back to some kind of normality, there’s no doubt that theatre nurses will be in greater demand than ever before to ensure that the workload from more procedures continues to run smoothly and safely.
You’ll need to be registered as a nurse in one of the four different specialisms – adult, child, mental health or disability. Then you’ll need some further training to pick up the specialist skills you’ll need to become a theatre nurse.
Check out the theatre nursing requirements to work with the Thornbury Nursing Services team.
Theatre nurses work in different hospital areas, including the anaesthetic room, operating theatres, and recovery wards. As well as working with a surgical team, theatre nurses can choose to work in many specialist therapy areas.
For example, you might work with a team in the audiology department, fitting cochlear implants, or in a cardiology unit, assisting with fitting pacemakers.
Find out more about what is needed to join us. Browse the specialisms that we’re currently recruiting for at Thornbury.
Here are a few of the personal skills you’ll need to help with your career as a theatre nurse:
Theatre nurses sometimes move on to becoming senior theatre nurses or into management, education or research. You could also train to be a surgical care practitioner.
As a theatre nurse, you’ll typically start at Band 5 of the Agenda for Change (AFC) pay system. This equates to a range of £28,407 – £34,581 depending on experience. Here at Thornbury Nursing Services, we pride ourselves on paying exceptional nursing agency pay rates.
We’re always looking for qualified theatre nurses to join our team to work in temporary, last-minute placements in NHS and private hospitals. You’ll need to work to our high standards and, in return, you’ll receive full professional support and fantastic pay rates from us. If you are a qualified theatre nurse and are looking for roles with high pay rates and exclusive benefits, we highly recommend registering with us today! We have roles across England and Wales in cities such as London, Leeds and Cardiff – contact our helpful team for more information.
We are looking for exceptional nurses and midwives to join our team. Register with Thornbury to access high rates of pay, paid mileage and support with revalidation.
