The PACU and recovery nurse role is one of the most consistently advertised positions in perioperative nursing across Australia and New Zealand, yet it is often reduced to a single line on a position description: post-anaesthesia care. In practice the role carries its own skill set, its own pace and a genuine case for a career specialty in its own right, rather than a stop on the way to theatre. This bulletin sets out what the role actually involves, how it differs from ward-

Two of the clearest promotion pathways in perioperative nursing right now are the Associate Nurse Unit Manager (ANUM) role and the Clinical Nurse Manager role in theatres. Both sit above the scrub scout nurse and anaesthetic nurse levels, and both are currently open across Australian private hospitals, but the two roles are not the same job with a different title. Understanding what each one actually involves is the first step if you are considering the move from clinical the

The anaesthetic nurse role is one of the clearest specialist routes in perioperative nursing, and one of the least well explained. Most theatre nurses first meet it from the other side of the drape, as the person who has already settled the patient by the time the scrub team is gowned. This bulletin sets out what the anaesthetic nurse role actually involves, what hospitals across Australia and New Zealand ask for, and how scrub scout nurses move across. What the role covers A

Scrub scout nursing is often written about as one job. In practice the specialty you work in shapes your day more than almost anything else on the position description. The same title can mean forty short cases in an ophthalmology list or two long ones in general surgery, and the skills that make you good at one are not automatically the skills that make you good at the other. This bulletin looks at what different scrub scout nurse lists actually ask of you, and how to use th

A state-by-state look at the genuinely live perioperative vacancies across Australia and New Zealand, from anaesthetic nursing to cardiac electrophysiology, cath lab and scrub and scout roles.

A closer look at the perioperative nurse educator role in private hospital theatres, what it actually involves day to day, and who it tends to suit.

Clinical ability matters, but communication, adaptability, professional judgement and a willingness to keep learning can shape a stronger perioperative career.

There are plenty of perioperative vacancies. The challenge is that there are not enough experienced theatre professionals to fill them.

Salary, location and career progression matter, but respect, support and leadership are what make theatre professionals stay.

Experienced perioperative professionals remain in demand across Australia and New Zealand. Here is what Carejobz is seeing in the market and what candidates are prioritising.