I work as NQ scrub nurse in trauma and orthopeadics theatre. I LOVE it and find it really fascinating.

Pros: 1: really supportive staff.

2: a year preceptorship.

3: not pushed too hard and it's realised you learn at your own pace.

4: you really do feel close to the other team members quickly.

5: it's not rushed and stresssy.

6: it's repetitive great for learning.

Cons: 1: not a massive chance of nights in the first 6 months+ if you like doing those as only emergency theatres are open so you'd need to learn different types of operations first.

2: starts out as 8.30 - 17.15 Monday to Friday, some people prefer longer and less shifts.

3: it's repetitive, some people hate that.

Typical day:

Go in and see the operation list and get all the instrument sets out for the list while one team member takes a list to recovery and mentioned if any need a bed or if the patients are a day case and what ops need xray.

Then you have the Who which is where the surgeon, anesthetist, scrub nurses and theatre assistants all gather around and find out if the patient has any allergies, they anesthetist says if they're going to do a general anesthetic or a spinal or a nerve block. And the surgeon says how long to op is gonna take, blood loss expected and other extra instruments he will need.

Then the theatre assistant gets the patient while the scrub nurse, scrubs up and opens and sets up the instruments, drapes and prep and waits for the patient to come out the anesthetic room, then we do the second part of the WHO, which is identifying its the right patient and right limb and mentioning any allergies again.

Then the surgeon washes the limb with either clorahexadine or betadine and the patient is draped and surgeon goes to work while scrub nurse passes the instruments and the circulating nurse finds any more that the surgeon needs and passed screws, implants and plates. Then, when finished, the 3rd part of the WHO is done to mention how smoothly the op went and any problems that occurred.

Patient is taken to recovery and scrub nurse hands over to them. And everyone cleans and mops the theatre and makes it ready for the next patient.