Not allowed in OR for clinical??

CountrifiedRN · Jan 17, 2003

We had one OR observation day where that was all we did, go from surgery to surgery. Also, if we have a pt on the floor that is having a procedure done while we are there, we can accompany them with their permission.

I thought it was a great experience. Who is the "they" that feels that there is no point to you being there? Your instructors, or the hospital? Maybe you can convince them that it would be a good learning experience. We didn't have an ER rotation scheduled, but some of us begged for it, and they were able to get it for us in our last semester.

Gator,SN · Jan 17, 2003

My class actually went to the OR 3 times and spent a day in Endo too. I hope that the hospital where you have clinical reconsiders this decision because I really learned a lot there and had a new appreciation for the surgical patients on the unit. They go through a lot before I am assigned to them. It helps to put the whole situation into focus. I do think that some people in my class were able to decide if the OR was for them or not, just by observing the interactions between the staff members and seeing what is required of an OR nurse.

Good luck Nikki......if this hospital won't allow you to observe, contact another hospital and ask the surgical services director if he/she will allow it for a day.

Gator

TNcanNURSE · Jan 17, 2003

I did several clinical rotations through the OR. Spent some time at a outpatient surgery clinic too. Saw a grown man get circumcised. That totally floored me. It looked like medievil torture.

Note that I am unsure how to spell medieval. Sounds like Mid-evil.

Guess I'll look it up. Anyway.

TNcanNURSE · Jan 17, 2003

BTW: You would never believe how far the "glans" will stretch until you've seen this!

Heck it hurt me and I don't have one.

EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2003

RN2b, it is the hospital (a very prestigious teaching hospital) that won't let us in. Our profs are fighting for us to get the experience though. I guess I can understand that they don't want a bunch of people there getting in the way, but we would be going one at a time anyway. I did get to see a c-section in Women's Health, but I would like to see surgery besides just that! My fiance's mom is an OR nurse, maybe I will call her up and see if I can shadow her.

sanakruz, ADN · Jan 17, 2003

I spent a whole week in OR as an LPN student!

You are being short changed.

And I'll bet it comes as a directive from a surgeon-as a general breed I would not recommend one as a pet.They bite, make ca-ca messes, and and are impossible to train to act like a human.

Love-A-Nurse · Jan 17, 2003

the experience will be a great one! i can remember from lpn school also, as we have not yet had the opportunity in rn school.

let us know if you get to go or not.

CountrifiedRN · Jan 17, 2003

Originally posted by Gator,SN
My class actually went to the OR 3 times and spent a day in Endo too. I hope that the hospital where you have clinical reconsiders this decision because I really learned a lot there and had a new appreciation for the surgical patients on the unit. They go through a lot before I am assigned to them. It helps to put the whole situation into focus. I do think that some people in my class were able to decide if the OR was for them or not, just by observing the interactions between the staff members and seeing what is required of an OR nurse.
Good luck Nikki......if this hospital won't allow you to observe, contact another hospital and ask the surgical services director if he/she will allow it for a day.

Gator

What Gator said about getting to see what surgical pts go through before we get them on the floor is a good argument for doing the rotation. I had a much better understanding of what actually happened during the surgery, the positions the pts were placed in, and the meds used for anesthesia.

Good luck, I hope your instructors can get you in!

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 17, 2003

The tightened restrictions may be related to a recent study that showed an increase in infection rates in OR's with a lot of "traffic." I'm sorry I don't know the citation, but it caused my hospital (where I coordinate our contracts with the local schools of nursing) to change the way we handle students. They can still come to our OR, but we have tightened things up a bit with regards their comings and goings. We have also made certain rooms (with particularly high-risk cases) off limits.

Another factor may be that the OR nurses are starting to be "stretched too thin" to be keeping an eye on the students. That's another issue in our OR. For experiences such as OR, some schools want to send the students without an instructor to directly supervise them. That means that the OR staff has new students coming in and out almost every day -- new students who don't know where to change, what to do, where to stand, etc. and who may faint midway through the procedure. That places a big burden on a staff that may be "working short" that day.

This burden of having students almost every day with no instructor to supervisor was another problem addressed by our recent changes in our rules/requirements for the schools. Now, we insist that an instructor be physically present in the OR area to supervise the students, tell them where to change clothes, etc. In exchange for requiring an instructor's direct involvement, we allow them to bring 5 students at a time (instead of the 2 students that were allowed to come in the past).

The new guidelines seem to be working well so far. Perhaps if you could find out WHY the hospital has changed it's rules, you could come up with a solution that would help them address their very real problems related to patient safety without eliminating your ability to observe surgery.

llg

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2003

We do two rotations in the OR, in our class.One in our junior year and one in our senior year. I know we observe surgeries, we on occasion may be asked if we want to assist as well. That is what I have heard.

colleen10 · Jan 17, 2003

Hey emerald,

That really stinks, but after reading llg's post I can uderstand why the hospital may be putting the brakes on.

If it's a teaching hospital do they have a theater room, and if so could you get into one for an op? It wouldn't be like being right there but at least you would get to see something. Although I have found from up in the theater everything kind of looks the same.