How to become a scrub nurse: what to learn first

The first time a surgeon asked me for an Allis forceps, my mind went blank. I looked at the table but could not connect the name to a clear image. I picked up a Babcock and passed it across. The surgeon returned it and repeated the request.

That mistake did not prove that I was unsuited to theatre. It showed something precise: in my mind, the word Allis was not yet connected to the instrument’s shape, its function and the stage in which it might be used.

First level: recognise the instruments

At the beginning, instrument names can sound like a foreign language: Kocher, Klemmer, Babcock, Allis, Farabeuf. When one is requested during a procedure, the table may suddenly look like a collection of very similar objects.

Trying to memorise a hundred instruments at once only confused me. I began instead with those I was likely to encounter in the next few cases. For each one, I connected:

• its name;
• the visual feature that identifies it;
• its principal function;
• the stage in which I had seen it used.

Study a few at a time, observe them carefully and review them whenever they reappear. To learn the main families, read Basic surgical instruments: the essential guide.

Second level: understand why it is needed now

Eventually the question changes from “Which instrument was requested?” to “Why is it needed now, and why this particular one?”

Incision, dissection, haemostasis and closure create different needs. If you recognise the stage, the family of instruments likely to be requested becomes more predictable.

This is not mind-reading. It is observing what the surgeon is doing, understanding the result they are trying to achieve and preparing for a possible next step.

You are not guessing the instrument. You are reading the procedure.