[Jarnaes]

I'm an OR nurse and it is not standard practice to keep people unnecessarily exposed while in the OR. Our goal is to keep the patients covered and warm at all times in order to reduce any complications from hypothermia and to maintain the patient's privacy/modesty.

Anesthetic agents interfere with the function of hypothalamus and the body cannot compensate for hypothermia via central thermoregulation. It is easier to maintain someone's body heat than to try to warm them up once they have become hypothermic. It is just like in pain management; it is easier to prevent severe pain than to treat it once it occurs.

Hypothermia has been associated with an increased mortality rate, impaired renal function, cardiac arrhythmias, ischemia, decreased drug metabolism, poor wound healing and increased incidence of infection. And last but not least, hypothermia screws up the clotting cascade. Need I say more?

[subee]

Originally Posted by dutch92602

I don't think patients want to know what kind of solution is going to be used!! Come on. What they do care about is what is going to be done to their body and who is going to be doing what. Maybe you could try to put yourself in someone elses' shoes. It all depends on if you are the person standing fully clothed or lying naked on a table with strangers of the opposite sex handling your genitals. It is everyday routine for OR staff but not for a patient. How OR staff feels about this has nothing to do with how a patient feels or how OR staff thinks they should feel. Read the bioethics discussion blog on Patient Modesty. You then realize this IS a greater issue. The OR seems to keep people in the dark about many things. It seems it is "they [patient] didn't ask, so we don't tell." Did it ever occur to OR staff that patients don't know what to ask but find out afterwards and then it becomes extremely upsetting. I am not a patient but an RN for many years. At one point or another in your lifetime either you or your spouse will be a patient. Then the tables turn.

Dutch 92602: Where are you going with this? Are you afraid someone with think of your wife as a sexual object while she is in surgery? Would it be more right to tell every D & C patient that she will be placed in wide stirrups after she is asleep? Would that make anyone feel more comfortable? I think the problem is in your own mind...and pretty much ONLY in your own mind. The OR is not a sexy place: we're all under a lot of pressure to make this procedure a smooth and atraumatic one for everyone's sake - MOST OF ALL THE PATIENT! And keeping people normothermic is a ROUTINE part of the procedure. That means that NOTHING is uncovered that doesn't need to be. Believe me, having to look at the opposite sex's genitals during the day is not a perk. It just means that we have to be extra sensitive to the patient's anxiety and make sure that windows are covered, etc. So, Dutch 92602, look into yourself and ask why this is an issue for you? What are you angry about? I exhaust myself every day emotionally and physically to keep YOU happy. Give me a break!

[dutch92602]

Originally Posted by subee

Dutch 92602: Where are you going with this? Are you afraid someone with think of your wife as a sexual object while she is in surgery? Would it be more right to tell every D & C patient that she will be placed in wide stirrups after she is asleep? Would that make anyone feel more comfortable? I think the problem is in your own mind...and pretty much ONLY in your own mind. The OR is not a sexy place: we're all under a lot of pressure to make this procedure a smooth and atraumatic one for everyone's sake - MOST OF ALL THE PATIENT! And keeping people normothermic is a ROUTINE part of the procedure. That means that NOTHING is uncovered that doesn't need to be. Believe me, having to look at the opposite sex's genitals during the day is not a perk. It just means that we have to be extra sensitive to the patient's anxiety and make sure that windows are covered, etc. So, Dutch 92602, look into yourself and ask why this is an issue for you? What are you angry about? I exhaust myself every day emotionally and physically to keep YOU happy. Give me a break!

If a patient goes to a doctors office and has a personal procedure they are alert and aware of who is handling them. All I am saying here is that people have varying degrees of privacy issues. If a patient is alert or asleep they might just care about who is handling them.

[subee]

Well, we ALL care about the competencies of our caretakers. However, in 21st century America, gender isn't usually one of the variables that one should be wasting their time on. We have evolved (most of us) to a level of humanity that doesn't dismiss anyone because of race, religion, gender, etc. As a female, yes, I would prefer to have a female gyn. However, in the OR I want the sharpest practitioner and would drop my prejudiced attitude at once to get the best surgeon regardless of gender. In the OR, people function as a TEAM and the quality of the procedure is only as good as the TEAM. I wouldn't demand that a male surgical tech be pulled out of my room if he set up the case. He'd merely be displaced by a disgrunted person who was taken out of their room to be put in another room. Now the dynamics of the room have been disrupted by someone who wants to live in the 10 century. We're BETTER people than humans were in the 10th century - no more crusades, stake burnings, etc. We just don't dismiss someone's humanity because of their sex.

[ewattsjt]

When this thread was started there were several postings on some other forums and a couple of postings here in other threads that were locked. They were all patients wanting to have every aspect of surgery explained to them from the gowns being untied to prep solutions on the thigh for abdominal procedures, etc... The questions posed in the other threads, combined with this one was the reason for my remark about the prep. They did want every minute detail explained because it was their right to know.

Speaking of knowing; I see you don’t know me at all because I have been in the patient’s shoes. I have had several procedures on me including but not limited to a couple of spinal fusions. I trusted that the surgeon and the rest of the staff would be professionals. I also had female nurses to remove my catheters. They are all medical professionals. My reason for coming into the healthcare profession is because I want to help people as I was helped. I also do a lot of GYN because I lost both grandmothers to ovarian Ca. I realize it isn’t about the staff but they have to be figured into the equation somewhere.

I also work in a facility that caters to giving female patients the choice of room staff. I think that it places the other patients at greater risk because when I am relieved from that room for an all female staff, I go to another room and pick up in their case (staff change). For some reason it isn’t financially feasible to keep extra people staffed for such requests. So what if you are the patient who got a staff change because of it? <<Is that patient’s rights any less than the other? Within the same token, our facility can not provide an all male staff for male pts who request it (and they have before) which brings up the question; Do all our patients receive the same standard of care? See how messy it can become?

We do maintain modesty and in fact I am anal about it; more so than most my female counterparts.

I do have to say that I would not want to be in a room that the patient didn't want me in because it can only lead to problems.

[dutch92602]

Originally Posted by subee

Well, we ALL care about the competencies of our caretakers. However, in 21st century America, gender isn't usually one of the variables that one should be wasting their time on. We have evolved (most of us) to a level of humanity that doesn't dismiss anyone because of race, religion, gender, etc. As a female, yes, I would prefer to have a female gyn. However, in the OR I want the sharpest practitioner and would drop my prejudiced attitude at once to get the best surgeon regardless of gender. In the OR, people function as a TEAM and the quality of the procedure is only as good as the TEAM. I wouldn't demand that a male surgical tech be pulled out of my room if he set up the case. He'd merely be displaced by a disgrunted person who was taken out of their room to be put in another room. Now the dynamics of the room have been disrupted by someone who wants to live in the 10 century. We're BETTER people than humans were in the 10th century - no more crusades, stake burnings, etc. We just don't dismiss someone's humanity because of their sex.

Why do you think that just because this is how you feel that every other person on earth feels the same? They don't. You are entitled to your opinion but it is how YOU feel not perhaps the way all patients feel. The silent majority accepts what happens and who does what under elective procedures. Silent compliance does not necessarily equate to informed consent and acceptance. A female knowing ahead of time that she will be spread eagle may not make her feel any better but if she also knew ahead of time that a male OR staff was going to do a 10 min cleanse MAY NOT be what she is willing to accept. This certainly does not mean he is not professional or trained. It just may not be what she is willing to accept. If she went to a doctors office and was alert she would not be willing to accept that. So I ask what the heck is the difference? Just because they call this the OR?
According to the AORN a patient has the right to interview all OR staff that will be involved in their care. I can only say patients are not aware of this. I am sure it never happens. Yes, we had an unsatisfactory experience and will never again eagerly accept surgery if it can be avoided at all costs. And, there will be many questions asked ahead of time. Well ahead of time. To the angry nurses that feel burned out perhaps they should get out of the OR. Don't you think all people feel this way that serve the public. Try being a clerk at XMAS time in a department store and putting up with people. Without the patient (for elective procedures), you and the surgeons wouldn't have a job. It truly is a customer service based business.

Go to the blog site by Maurice Berstein of UCLA entitled Bioethics Discussion Blog: Patient Modesty a more significant issue. There are nearly 800 comments coming from patients addressing this issue. The doctor suggests people (patients) need to SPEAK UP. Males have many issues with this and feel there is a double standard.

[core0]

Originally Posted by dutch92602

snip
According to the AORN a patient has the right to interview all OR staff that will be involved in their care. I can only say patients are not aware of this. I am sure it never happens. Yes, we had an unsatisfactory experience and will never again eagerly accept surgery if it can be avoided at all costs. And, there will be many questions asked ahead of time. Well ahead of time. To the angry nurses that feel burned out perhaps they should get out of the OR. Don't you think all people feel this way that serve the public. Try being a clerk at XMAS time in a department store and putting up with people.

I would be interested in seeing a reference on this. I really don't see how this is remotely practical. We frequently do cases that go across three shifts. Are we supposed to call in the people that are off so that the patient can meet them? Are we supposed to pull people out of rooms so that the patient can meet the lunch relief?. The patient meets the circulator, the surgeon and anesthesia. At least in my neck of the woods.

David Carpenter, PA-C

[dutch92602]

Originally Posted by core0

I would be interested in seeing a reference on this. I really don't see how this is remotely practical. We frequently do cases that go across three shifts. Are we supposed to call in the people that are off so that the patient can meet them? Are we supposed to pull people out of rooms so that the patient can meet the lunch relief?. The patient meets the circulator, the surgeon and anesthesia. At least in my neck of the woods.

David Carpenter, PA-C

An AORN representative stated that to me in an email. Practicality of it?... that is another issue if it is a long case. Most I assume are not. But, that is what the AORN states as a patient right prior to surgery.

[core0]

Originally Posted by dutch92602

An AORN representative stated that to me in an email. Practicality of it?... that is another issue if it is a long case. Most I assume are not. But, that is what the AORN states as a patient right prior to surgery.

I can't find any reference in the AORN standards and recommended practices (although admittedly my manual is several years old). Just because someone told you does not make it AORN policy. A representative emailing you also does not make it an AORN statement. Like I stated it would be tremendously unworkable.

David Carpenter, PA-C

[dutch92602]

Originally Posted by core0

I can't find any reference in the AORN standards and recommended practices (although admittedly my manual is several years old). Just because someone told you does not make it AORN policy. A representative emailing you also does not make it an AORN statement. Like I stated it would be tremendously unworkable.

David Carpenter, PA-C

Whatever!

Bonnie Denholm, RN MS CNOR
Perioperative Nursing Specialist
Center for Nursing Practice
AORN

It is and should be any patients right if they want to exercise it.