The hospital operating room has undergone tremendous change in the past five years . There ’ ve been upheavals in staff . Greater use of robotic surgery and technology . More post- COVID-19 focus on infection prevention protocols and metrics . And supply chain challenges that require new approaches and deeper vendor relationships . All along the way , perioperative nurses have been at the heart of these changes , helping to keep it all together .

“ Perioperative nurses are resilient and they ’ re flexible ,” said Kimberly Haines , RN , Medline Director of Clinical Programs for Perioperative Sales . “ They ’ re also being asked to do more every day . There ’ s a lot more involved now in the job .”

Haines mentions two big pandemic-related developments — retirements and new staff — that put pressure on clinical teams everywhere , including perioperative .

“ You had a ton of institutional knowledge retire . The people who knew how to run things retired and there wasn ’ t always a protocol or policy to connect all the dots . And now new staff is coming in and they don ’ t

know how all the puzzle pieces go together .”

Add to that , the swift evolution of surgical technology . Today ’ s operating room “ is more complex , with more toys ,” says Haines .

Nikki Miles , a perioperative nurse for 10 years , now at North Kansas City Hospital , agrees — and acknowledges the challenges of keeping up . “ So much has changed ,” she says , adding , “ and it ’ s changing so rapidly .

“ There ’ s constantly new equipment coming in that we have to adapt to .”

Keeping patient care the focus “ If you ’ re worried about equipment , you ’ re not worried about