Scrub Nurse — Your Theatre Expertise Has Real Value

Current: v2.0 · Last edited: 2026-03-24

Scrub Nurse — Your Theatre Expertise Has Real Value

Every procedure you assist is a masterclass in precision. That expertise deserves to be recorded — and paid for.

🇪🇺 Nursing is on the European Commission's official list of critical shortage professions. Your skills are in high demand. Record them. Get paid.

The Observer Programme pays experienced scrub nurses and theatre nurses to record their working day using lightweight smart glasses. You continue your normal role in theatre. We capture what that expertise looks like.

How it works

• Wear smart glasses (lighter than your loupes) during your shifts
• Record sessions from 30 minutes up — fits around your theatre schedule
• Spend a few minutes after each session confirming what procedures and tasks you performed
• Get paid per recorded minute. The more you record, the more you earn
• All recordings are anonymised — no faces, no voices, no identifying details

Your clinical judgement stays yours. We record the expertise, not the decisions.

What you'll earn

You're paid per minute of accepted footage — on top of your regular income. Earnings depend on your specialism, seniority, and how often you record.

€55–€85 per recorded hour

€220–€340 per recording day (based on ~4 hours)

€3,200–€4,500 per month (based on 20 recording days)

Theatre nursing is one of the highest-paid specialisms on the Observer Programme. First Observers in a surgical specialism or region earn a launch bonus. Extra earnings are possible through referral bonuses and specialist recording tasks.

What we're looking for

• 5+ years of experience as a scrub nurse, theatre nurse, or ODP in an operative role
• Currently working in theatre — employed, agency, or freelance
• Hands-on surgical assist work: instrument management, swab counts, anticipatory passing, sterile field management
• Smartphone (iOS or Android)

All surgical specialisms welcome: general surgery, orthopaedics, cardiac/vascular, neurosurgery, laparoscopic/robotic-assisted, ENT, urology, plastics.

We provide everything

• Smart glasses — lightweight, shipped to you, pre-configured
• Full onboarding and support (~30 minutes)

About the Observer Programme

The Observer Programme by Aisthis works with professionals across 100+ trades to document how skilled work actually happens. Theatre nursing expertise — the anticipation, the precision, the spatial awareness — is some of the most valuable professional knowledge in the world.

Applications are reviewed with the help of AI. We'll be in touch if there's a match.