A scrub nurse is a specially trained nurse who works with surgeons and the medical team in the operating room. Scrub nurses are extremely valuable members of the surgical team, providing support in the operating room and patient care outside of it as well. This career can be very demanding, but also quite rewarding, and careers in nursing are constantly expanding due to the rising need for these crucial health care professionals. Some scrub nurses even become highly sought after members of surgical teams, especially experienced scrub nurses who are familiar with a wide range of procedures.

Any type of surgery is a complex endeavor, and it requires a large support team of medical professionals to ensure that the surgery runs smoothly. Patients may never meet some of the people involved in their surgeries; the pathologist who analyzes a patient's blood before surgery, for example, may not meet the patient, but he or she is responsible for ensuring that the patient is healthy enough for a surgical procedure.

Scrub nurses are more formally known as perioperative nurses. Perioperative nursing involves patient care before, during, and after surgery. There are a number of different perioperative nursing positions; the scrub nurse is actually fulled “scrubbed in” for the surgery, meaning that he or she has used special soaps and wears sterile garments so that the nurse can work next to the operative field. A scrub nurse hands instruments to the surgeon and helps to keep an eye on the patient's condition. Scrub nurses are also familiar with the operation of emergency room equipment.

A circulating nurse, another type of operating room (OR) nurse, works on the perimeter of the operating room, monitoring patient care, ensuring that the room stays sterile, and keeping track of instruments and sponges. Perioperative nurses also help to prepare patients for surgery, and they provide valuable care and monitoring for patients when their surgeries are over. Surgeons may do the cutting, but a scrub nurse is every bit as important.

Training to become a perioperative nurse involves attending nursing school and receiving certification as a registered nurse before pursuing training in operating room work. Being a scrub nurse is hard work, as these nurses can work long hours in the operating room and they may be asked to assist on emergency surgeries in the middle of the night. However, compensation for these trained professionals is often quite good, and many perioperative nurses also greatly enjoy their roles on the surgical team.