This exciting, bespoke, three-day course is designed to improve and standardise the pre-operative nurse’s patient assessment skills, by increasing their knowledge, competence and confidence. Which in return, will improve patient safety and reduce the number of ‘on the day’ surgery cancellations. 

We aim to provide a good background knowledge of medical and surgical conditions that could affect their patient’s suitability for surgery, alongside an understanding of medications, an good knowledge of the tests and investigations available in pre-operative care and their results, that could affect the patient’s management or journey.

Sessions will include: 

• History taking, assessment & red flags
• Medications
• Tests & investigations
• Decision making & risk management
• Classifications of surgery
• Anatomy & physiology
• Blood transfusion

Clinical skills sessions on: 

• ECG recognition
• Heart & lung auscultation

Anaesthetist session by Consultant Anaesthetist 

Body system sessions on: 

• Cardiology
• Respiratory
• Haematology
• Endocrine
• Renal

The course is concluded with live simulation, using simulated persons, to enable participants to consolidate learnt theory and demonstrate their newly learnt knowledge.