Muriel describes her day at work as rewarding, varied, and challenging.

“My efforts and skills are recognized by both the people I work with and the managers of my department. I feel I have become a valued and appreciated member of the staff. I have taken on the role of a resource lead in the orthopedic service. This has given me the experience to educate and to be a leader. I also play a role in training new perioperative nurses going through their post-grad course.

I have been granted the opportunity over the years by Fraser Health to attend bi-annual perioperative courses through PRNABC [Perioperative Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia]  and  ORNAC [Operating Room Nurses Association of Canada], which allows ongoing education and gives operating room nurses a chance to meet with colleagues from across the province and Canada.

[A recent achievement that was celebrated] was a surgical symposium that was organized through my site [Ridge Meadows] and our local PRNABC group. This gave the opportunity for many Fraser Health OR nurses to sign up for an education session from surgical company reps. It was held at a local venue and was a great success. Everyone came away with learning and updating their knowledge and skills.

I work in a smaller community-based hospital. Working at a smaller site allows you to really get to know the people you work with. There is real camaraderie between all levels of staffing, which allows us to work well with each other and we genuinely have each other’s backs. We are like one big working family.

I live in the community that I work. Working in a smaller community-based hospital makes me feel that I am actually contributing to [help] the people where I live.

If you like critical thinking, learning new skills in an ever-changing surgical nursing field and enjoy having a varied work day, every day, with a set schedule of shifts and being on-call, then OR nursing may be the perfect career for you.”