This Perioperative Nurses Week, we’re sharing what nurses have told us about getting time back for the work that matters most.
A perioperative nurse's attention is pulled in every direction in the room: caring for the patient, supporting the surgical team, and keeping the case moving safely.
And then there is the record. Every supply, implant, and tissue has to be documented accurately. For our partners, this often meant searching the EHR, typing long reference numbers, and in some cases writing product details on paper logs or Post-it notes
Getting that record right matters, but it also takes nurses away from top-of-license work in the room. We asked the nurses and technologists who use AssistIQ what changed once supply documentation stopped pulling them away from the case. Here is what they told us:
What we hear most often is less time at the computer means more time to circulate.
"I've really seen some benefits from this. I'm at the computer less and am able to circulate around the room more." CVOR RN, [Allina Health]
"It's nice not to have to stand at the computer and enter everything manually." CVOR RN, [Allina Health]
"It really speeds up the process. Instead of having the nurse taken away from the patient and the surgical field to look up something on the computer, they can just capture it." OR Surgical Technologist, [Cottage Health]
Across our health system partners, teams report getting back 15 or more minutes per case through faster, more accurate documentation. Over a full day of procedures, that can mean hours redeployed towards higher priorities in the room.
Implant documentation is where the stakes are highest. Serial numbers, UPIs, lot numbers, and expiration dates are what make a recalled implant traceable, and they are also the hardest things to type correctly while a case is moving.
"I used it with implants yesterday and it was awesome. I didn't have to worry about typing in the serial or expiration date." OR Circulator, [ProMedica]
"It's great for implants. Totally takes the human error away, so I think the accuracy of that documentation is great." General Circulator, [ProMedica], seven weeks after go-live
"This will alleviate people forgetting to document implants because this is easier and so fast." [Joe], OR Circulator, [Northwell Health]
At ProMedica, documentation errors on tissue in the OR dropped by more than 90%. For the nurse, that is a record they can trust and fewer corrections after the case.
Perioperative teams have watched a lot of new technology arrive in the OR. It’s fair to ask whether the next tool will make the work easier or just add a step, and nurses trust a tool once it has proven itself in real cases.
"I thought I wasn't going to like it, but now I love it. It helps my workflow." OR RN, [Allina Health]
"It's been nice. I was really skeptical, but I do really like it." OR Circulator, [UW Health]
"I'm only part time and I [initially] said, I'm not learning that, but then I tried it and it was really easy to use." PRN Circulator, [ProMedica]
That last one matters for leaders. Perioperative teams often include full-time circulators, travelers, and PRN team members. A documentation workflow has to work for the person who is in the room once a week just as well as for the one who is there every day.
Perioperative nurses joined this profession to provide excellent patient care. The ultimate measure of any new tool is whether it helps them do more of that.
"This makes my job a lot easier so I can focus on patient care." Lindsay Hawes, Nurse Circulator, Owensboro Health
To perioperative nurses, circulators, surgical technologists, and nurse leaders: thank you for the care you give and the expertise you bring to every case.
And to the teams who tell us plainly what works and what does not: your feedback shapes how we build AssistIQ around the realities you face in the OR and procedural areas.
Happy Perioperative Nurses Week.
See how AssistIQ supports product capture in the OR.