Tell me about Same Day Surgery

[Nuieve]

I'm doing nursing refresher course. They offered me placement in SDS, sounds interesting, but I wonder if I get enough skills there. I never worked as a RN after graduating, so I have lots to catch up (this is why they didn't recommend me go to acute care). I'm worried that it might be something what medical assistants do. Will I get enough clinical experience with tubes/catheters/IV/stomas/airways etc?

Thanks

[Tucwebb]

Your experience will depend upon your position, i.e. pre-op, intra-op, or post-op. Do you know what you will be doing?

[Pinkster]

I worked as a tech at a SDS over the summer, and The Pre-op nurses start IVs and maintain airways if needed, and monitor sedated pts was their main duty, of which I could do as a student (except start IVs and give the medication)

OR there was one scrub nurse (and sometimes a scrub tech, or just a scrub tech) and one circulator) in post op the nurses are incharge of maintaining airway and pain medication for pts as they awake, then getting them ready to go home (discharge instructions, a drain here or there and sometimes reinforcing a dressing, but not much else, for day2day things. SDS you won't see many sick people usually, because many SDS are elective (at least in this facility) and the surgery center didnt want the liability, though if it is a hospital SDS it could be different, you might run into more pts requiring more skill.

They offered me a job post graduation, but I don't know if I will take it, for the fact of limited skill usage, other than in the OR if I were to be trained to scrub.