Can the role of the nurse as surgical assistant add value in the Australian public health care sector?

Abstract

Registered nurses (RNs) and subsequently nurse practitioners (NP) have practiced the role of surgical assistant in the Australian health care system for more than 30 years. The Australian College of Perioperative Nurses (ACORN) has a statement outlining the responsibilities of nurses undertaking the role. Australian research corroborates international research that non-medical surgical assistants (i.e. surgical assistants who are not medical doctors) have equivalent patient outcomes to their medical counterparts. While the majority of nurses as surgical assistants work in the private sector in the Australian health care system4, the role is underutilised in the Australian public health care sector. There is an opportunity for nurses as surgical assistants to add value in the public health care sector. The public sector nurse surgical
assistant model is advantageous in surgical specialties where the surgical assistant requires highly specialised skills. These skills often require a protracted learning curve which is not suited to transient junior medical personnel. One specialty particularly suited to nurses as surgical assistants is in robotic-assisted surgery.