“No two days are ever the same”
Sadaf Gharesi is grinning ear to ear.
It’s her second week on the job at VGH and she’s delighted to be in the operating room (OR).
“I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was 12,” she says. “After arriving in Canada from Iran with my family, I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Sadaf began her career as a registered nurse (RN) in palliative care. While she found the work rewarding, the 26-year-old jumped at the chance of becoming an OR RN and applied to the VCH Perioperative Nursing Program.
“I love the idea of working in a fast-paced OR, where you need to think on your feet and solve problems as part of a team,” she explains.
Students supported at each step
Colleagues and friends in the operating room: Sadaf Gharesi and Saghar Ahmadi-Abbassabadi.
Enrolled in the VCH Perioperative Nursing Program, Sadaf completed five self-paced, part-time online modules, followed by simulated education in the Centre of Excellence for Simulation Education and Innovation, and then hands-on training in VGH operating rooms.
As Sadaf describes her experience, it’s clear that students are supported each step of the way. “It’s a teaching hospital so nurses are used to mentoring. Most instructors have gone through the program or they work at VGH,” she says.
Students rotate through three nursing roles: scrub nurse, circulating nurse and anaesthesia nurse in a setting that pairs one instructor with four students in the OR. Gradually, students assume more responsibility leading up to “take-over days”. Similar to the model used in the VGH Education OR, take-over days allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in the OR. Three students, supported by an instructor and OR RN, work alongside a surgeon and anaesthesiologist during actual cases.
It’s still early days, but Sadaf feels confident in her choice and what the future holds.
“The cohort that graduated before us looks as if they’ve been working in the operating room for years,” she says. “Everyone is really supportive and you’re always learning. No two days are ever the same.”
Tripling our number of graduates
August 2016 grad celebration (l to r): Melissa Tai, VCH regional perioperative clinical educator; Saghar Ahmadi-Abbassabadi, new VGH OR RN; Shona McBride and Shana Smith, new SPH OR RNs; Sarah Ogren, Jessica Thomas, Jack Yan, Sadaf Gharesi, Jonathan Pardinez and Emely Dubon, new VGH OR RNs; and Kim Lee, regional perioperative clinical educator.
Sadaf is one of a growing number of nurses choosing to work in the OR. So far this year, VGH and UBCH have gained a total of 16 new graduates from the VCH Perioperative Nursing Program. By year-end, that number will increase to 26, nearly tripling the total annual intake of perioperative nursing grads compared to 2015.
In February 2017, eight more graduates will be working in an OR near you — and you or someone you know could join them. The program is open to RNs and student nurses in the final practicum of their RN program and includes 255 hours of theory and 465 hours of clinical experience.
Find out more about this employer-paid training program by contacting Karen Muller, recruitment advisor, at 604 675 2500 (local 21994), or visit our VCH Perioperative Training site.
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