I recently completed my nursing degree at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. During my time obtaining my degree, I was exposed to a wide variety of different nursing specialties including operative and perioperative care. Since my graduation in May 2017, I have been employed as a nurse at John Scott House Rehabilitation and Nursing Center for the last seven months. It is a 138-bed skilled nursing center which focuses on both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. During my time here, I saw several patients who had returned from surgery. I observed that depending on the type of care they received this could significantly affect their recovery process. Because of this, I became interested in the idea of working as an operating room nurse, and more specifically perioperative care.

Unlike many other types of nursing where the patient ratio is high, the patient ratio is significantly lower in perioperative care as the nurse cares for and attends to the patient through pre-surgical, surgical, and post-surgical care. The Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, a physician-led non-profit teaching hospital, has a long tradition of providing state of the art care. It is for this reason that I wish to work as a perioperative nurse at Lahey Hospital. I am able to work under pressure and have proven myself to be effective in stressful situations. One thing that attracted me to perioperative nursing is the ever-changing environment. I am always up for a challenge and enjoy working in fast paced changing environments where teamwork is essential.

Through my current employment at John Scott, I have had many opportunities to improve my teamwork and communication skills. Because of this, I feel that I am well equipped to handle the demanding environment that faces perioperative care nurses. In conclusion, I know that given the opportunity I will be able to excel in the field of perioperative nursing.