3 Types of surgical nursing opportunities and clinical placements
Surgical nursing placements
For many of you, a surgical nursing placement will be one of many placements you will experience in your programme of study, depending of course on the learning outcomes to be achieved as well as the specific requirements of your field of practice. In the main, placements where you are assessed in relation to the NMC Standards must be a minimum of 4 continuous weeks, but you may have shorter experiences in a surgical environment as part of a ‘hub and spoke’ approach to learning. Other terms used by the NMC (NMC 2010) are ‘placement learning pathways’, ‘placement learning opportunities’ and ‘insight days’, all focused on offering students opportunities to develop their skills and enhance their knowledge of ‘understanding and supporting the patient journey’ (NMC 2010:40).
The length of time in a placement will be determined initially by your curriculum requirements. Discussion with your mentor about what you can realistically achieve in terms of clinical skills and patient care experience will ensure you meet the required learning outcomes and competences for that placement (see Ch. 4 for a discussion of placement learning opportunities).
What do you imagine the environment will look like that is different to a medical nursing placement? Consider the explanations offered in Chapters 1 and 2 regarding the nature of surgical nursing and section on Description of a Surgical ward for further discussion of what a surgical ward may look like.
You will have discovered the following:
• Orthopaedic surgery involves surgery of the musculoskeletal system.
• Ear, nose and throat surgery involves surgery of the ear, nose and throat, including the larynx.
• Gynaecology surgery involves surgery of the female reproductive system.
• Vascular surgery involves surgery of the arteries and veins.
• Abdominal surgery involves surgery of abdominal organs such as liver, bowel, stomach, gall bladder.
• Renal and urinary tract surgery involves surgery of the kidney and related organs and systems.
• Neurological surgery involves surgery of the brain and spinal cord.
• Ophthalmic surgery involves surgery of the eye and related structures.
• Thoracic/chest surgery involves surgery of the respiratory organs.
• Breast surgery involves surgery of the breast – male and female.
• Cardiac surgery involves surgery of the heart.
• Plastic surgery involves reconstructive surgery in varied parts of the body.
You may be undertaking a placement that is simply identified as a general surgical ward, and here you may meet patients undergoing a range of surgical interventions. It is up to you to be knowledgable about general and specific surgery, as well as anatomy and physiology. (We explore why it is important to revise anatomy and physiology prior to your placement throughout the book, but especially in Section 3.)
Further reading related to surgical placements can be found at the end of Chapter 4.
Description of a surgical ward
A surgical ward is usually a very busy environment, with patients being taken back and forth to theatre by nurses, theatre attendants and other relevant personnel. (Other linked placements are described in Section 2: for example, the operating theatre.)
Read Holland’s (1993) article, which describes an ethnographic study carried out on a surgical ward, for a description of what she calls ‘cultural artefacts’ and specific practices she observed which clearly identified it as a surgical ward. Specific language used in communication between nurses was also an indicator. (See Box 3.1 for some of her observations.)
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
