Responsibilities of an Operating Room

The operating room is a necessity for scheduled surgeries, surgeries due to accidents and surgeries from nonaccident-related injuries and illnesses. Every operating room is sanitized thoroughly, staffed with nurses and surgical assistants and equipped with monitoring equipment, medical tools, anesthetics and all other required materials.

Surgeons

• A surgeon holds the patients life in his hands.

  The surgeon has the most responsibility to the patient. The operating room sees many different surgeons a day, from neurosurgeons, who work with the brain and spinal chord, to a general surgeon, who works on intestinal and other internal surgeries, to a cardiac surgeon, who works on the heart. The operating must be equipped to meet the many surgical possibilities and have the appropriate surgeons to accommodate the patient's needs.

Nurses

• A nurse is responsible for organizing an efficient operating room.

  Nurses play a vital role in the operating room. Specific responsibilities are delegated to specific nurses in order to maintain organization and efficiency. Scrub nurses are required to pass the medical instruments and materials during surgery, and other nurses rotate duties, such as preparing the operating room for surgery, making sure records and files are filled out correctly and ensuring the equipment is running properly and that the surgery is running smoothly.

Anesthesiologist

• Most anesthetics are administered through the vein.

  Without an anesthesiologist, most surgeries would likely be unbearable. In order to relive and prevent pain, the anesthesiologist administers general anesthetics intravenously, which is complete sedation, when patients are undergoing tougher surgeries, such as bypasses and conscious sedation, where the patient is awake but numb to pain. The anesthesiologist also monitors the anesthetics and the patient's response to it throughout the surgery.