The Endoscopy Nurse Role Explained, and How Theatre Nurses Move Into It

Kate Wheeler

2 days ago

4 min read

If you have worked in theatres for a while, you have probably walked past the endoscopy unit many times without seeing much of what happens inside. The endoscopy nurse role sits alongside the operating theatre rather than inside it, and for many perioperative nurses in Australia and New Zealand it is a practical career move that is easy to overlook.

This Theatre Careers Bulletin sets out what an endoscopy nurse does day to day, what hospitals look for when they hire, and how theatre nurses make the move across.

What an endoscopy nurse does day to day

Endoscopy units carry out procedures that use a flexible scope to look inside the body, most commonly gastroscopy and colonoscopy. Depending on the unit, the list may also include more complex work such as ERCP or endoscopic ultrasound. Most procedures are done under sedation, and most patients go home the same day.

The nursing role usually covers the whole patient journey across a list:

Admission and pre-procedure checks, including consent, fasting, bowel preparation, medications and allergies
Assisting in the procedure room, handling the scope and the accessories used during the case, such as biopsy forceps and snares, while monitoring the patient under sedation
Recovery and discharge, including observations, patient education and discharge planning
Scope handling, cleaning and reprocessing between cases

In some units you rotate through all of these in the same week. In larger units you may spend most of your time in one area, such as the procedure room or reprocessing.

Reprocessing is a core part of the job, not an extra

The biggest difference most theatre nurses notice is how much of the role centres on the scope itself. Flexible endoscopes are complex, reusable devices, and the way each one is cleaned, disinfected, dried, stored and tracked is closely governed.

In Australia, reprocessing of reusable medical devices is now covered by AS 5369:2023, which replaced AS/NZS 4187:2014. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care publishes guidance on that transition. The Gastroenterological Nurses College of Australia (GENCA), the national body for gastroenterology and endoscopy nurses, also publishes guidelines for endoscopy nursing practice.

When an advert asks for demonstrated competency in scope reprocessing, this is what it means. It is also why many experienced endoscopy roles ask for a set amount of recent endoscopy experience rather than general perioperative experience alone.

What hospitals look for when they hire

Requirements vary between units, so read each advert closely and separate what is mandatory from what is desirable. Across the endoscopy roles we see, the common requirements are:

Current registration as a Registered Nurse with AHPRA in Australia or the Nursing Council of New Zealand, with some Australian units also open to Enrolled Nurses
Recent, hands-on endoscopy experience, including scope handling and reprocessing
Confidence caring for patients under sedation and recognising early deterioration
Flexibility with the roster the unit actually runs

One of the live endoscopy roles we are recruiting for in Queensland right now asks for a minimum of three years' endoscopy experience and is open to both Registered Nurses and Enrolled Nurses. Not every unit sets the bar that high, but it shows how specific the requirement can be for experienced positions.

Roster and working pattern

Endoscopy is often thought of as a weekday specialty, and many day units do run mainly weekday lists. That is not universal. Units within larger hospitals may run emergency lists, and some endoscopy roles sit on the wider theatre roster with weekend or on-call requirements. Ask what the actual roster is before you assume, and get it in writing with your offer.

How theatre nurses move into endoscopy

Theatre experience transfers well. You already understand aseptic technique, instrument care, patient positioning, time out and count processes, and working at pace across a list. If you have anaesthetic or recovery experience, your sedation and airway awareness is directly relevant. Our articles on the anaesthetic nurse role and the PACU and recovery nurse role explain those pathways in more detail.

What theatre nurses usually need to build is specialty specific: scope handling, accessory use, reprocessing systems, and the rhythm of a high-turnover procedure list. The practical routes in tend to be:

Asking for exposure in your own hospital, if it has an endoscopy unit that shares staff with theatres
Applying for roles that state they will train, which are more common in units that recruit from a theatre or recovery background
Formal education, such as the courses and e-learning modules GENCA offers for endoscopy nurses

When you apply, be specific about what you have done. A hiring manager will want to know which procedures you have assisted with, whether you have reprocessed scopes yourself, and what level of sedation you are used to. The same principle applies to the case mix question most theatre interviews include.

Is endoscopy the right move for you?

Endoscopy suits nurses who like structure, volume and a clear patient journey from admission to discharge. It can suit you if you want a change of pace from long, complex theatre cases, or if you enjoy a role where technical equipment knowledge is valued. It may suit you less if you want to stay at the sterile field in major surgery, or if you are aiming for a particular scrub scout specialty. Our piece on scrub scout specialty choice covers those decisions.

If you are weighing it up, the live roles on our theatre nursing jobs page show what units are asking for right now, and this week's bulletin on theatre nurse jobs in Australia gives a wider view of the market.