Surgical Nursing and Anesthesia
What the exam tests
Surgical Nursing and Anesthesia covers asepsis, instrument use, patient preparation, anesthetic monitoring, and recovery. Questions often combine a calculation with a safety judgment.
Core rules
- Surgical zones: clean, sterile, and unrestricted; traffic and clothing follow the zone.
- Patient prep: clip hair outside the suite, then alternate chlorhexidine scrub and alcohol rinse from incision outward.
- Instruments: cutting (scalpel, scissors), grasping (thumb forceps), hemostatic (hemostats), retracting, and specialized.
- Suture patterns: simple interrupted, cruciate, and continuous; choose by tissue and tension.
- Anesthesia: premed, induction, maintenance; monitor HR, RR, mucous membrane color, CRT, blood pressure, SpO2, ETCO2, and temperature.
Worked example
A 10 kg dog needs 10 mL/kg/hr of isotonic crystalloid. Hourly volume = 10 × 10 = 100 mL/hr. With a 20 gtt/mL administration set, drip rate = (100 mL × 20 gtt/mL) ÷ 60 min = 33 gtt/min. Round to the nearest drop and reassess the patient rather than chasing an exact number.
Traps
- Touching the sterile field with ungloved hands or reaching over it.
- Clipping after the surgical scrub, which contaminates the site.
- Monitoring depth by heart rate alone; use multiple parameters.
- Forgetting to inflate the endotracheal tube cuff or to check for leaks.
- Leaving a recovering patient unmonitored or without heat support.