Scrub practitioners role: a basic overview
Scrub practitioners are essential in the provision of care to patients who undergo surgical procedures, their knowledge and expertise are there to aid the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) in a variety of ways.
The role of the scrub practitioner is essentially broken down into two aspects, the first is the scrub practitioner itself, this involves the creation and maintenance of a sterile field and the responsibility of ensuring the correct distribution of instrumentation and consumables to and from the surgeon. The role of the circulating practitioner is the second aspect of a scrub practitioners' role, this practitioner acts a link to and from the sterile field, giving extra supplies and instruments when needed. (Wicker and Dalby. 2016).
Image:(Dekomed, 2021)
Knowledge
It is essential for scrub practitioners to have a vast knowledge of the surgical procedures and anatomy of the speciality they are scrubbing for. This allows for a more reactive and at times preemptive practitioner creating a smoother and more efficient environment for care to be delivered (Hughes and Mardell. 2019). For example, Racic et al. (2023) states that a highly competent scrub practitioner that is experienced in both open and endovascular approaches to vascular surgery allows for the reduction in risk to patients and prepares the scrub practitioner for difficulty and unexpected situations.
Image:(NHS careers, 2024)
Other duties
Along with the deep knowledge of anatomy and surgical procedures, scrub practitioners have numerous responsibilities when it comes to providing safe and effective care to the patients, from checking equipment like electrosurgery units to positioning patients using their knowledge to adapt to each patient (Wicker and Dalby. 2016)
one of the most essential responsibilities of the scrub practitioner is the implementation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting.
Image:(Berry, 2014)
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