Surgical Nursing
What this domain tests
Surgical nursing tests sterile technique, patient preparation, instrument and suture handling, operating-room conduct, and recovery. Questions often ask what breaks asepsis or what action comes next.
Core rules
- Perform a surgical hand scrub and wear sterile gown and gloves; touch only sterile items.
- Clip hair before skin antisepsis and remove loose hair. Use chlorhexidine scrub and an alcohol rinse per protocol; avoid alcohol near open wounds or eyes.
- Drape with four-quarter towels secured by towel clamps; do not move a drape once placed.
- Count sponges, needles, and instruments before closure and at the end.
- Classify wounds as clean, clean-contaminated, contaminated, or dirty/infected.
- Choose suture by monofilament versus multifilament, absorbable versus nonabsorbable, size, and pattern.
- Monitor temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2, ETCO2, and pain in recovery.
Worked example
A 12 kg dog needs perioperative fluids at 5 mL/kg/hr for a 90-minute procedure. Rate = 12 × 5 = 60 mL/hr. Duration is 1.5 hr, so volume = 60 × 1.5 = 90 mL. This is maintenance-like support, not a shock bolus; reassess if blood loss occurs.
Traps that cost marks
Clipping after the patient is draped; touching the sterile field with nonsterile gloves; allowing hair to contaminate the prep; forgetting instrument and sponge counts; assuming a clean wound is sterile; leaving the patient hypothermic.