The scrub nurse is part of the perioperative staff that is scrubbed into the procedure because they work within the sterile field. The scrub nurse helps prepare the sterile field prior to patient arrival (including relevant instruments and performing preprocedural counts), passes and receives sterile instruments and equipment to the surgeon and assistants, ensures patient safety, communicates any needs of the surgical team to the circulating nurse, participates in the final sponge and instrument counts with the circulating nurse, and documents all information relevant to their role.