Theatre nursing: the fight for survival

The sense of threat operating department nurses have been feeling recently has been exacerbated by many of the newer nursing education programmes not defining clinical placements in theatre as a necessity for students. This, the author argues, will have far-reaching consequences which include a decline in the number of qualified nurses in the operating department, higher qualified nurse turnover and a decline in patient-care standards. Operating department nurses must be prepared to prove their worth in the increasingly competitive and cost-conscious clinical world.