Craziest Thing You Saw a Surgeon Do.

[gymnut]

Or really anyone.

So in clinicals during a robotic case the surgeon proceeded to staple the sterile drapes...TO THE PATIENT!! He said this way he can be sure the drapes don't move. The patient did not consent to this and when the procedure was finished he popped them all out and just put hystocril over the puncture marks. I was in shock but, no one else was because it's common with this surgeon.

*****?!!? How can this even be right? That would just increase the risk of infection added all the extra skin punctures. I talked to my instructor about it and she said that he was allowed to that. My head is just spinning from this. I would be so angry if I woke up with puncture marks all over me.

I really wish this was some sort of bad joke but I assure you it's not!

[lrobinson5]

During surgery one of the residents waved around a degloved foot like it was sock puppet.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

at the risk of having this turn the thread into "awful things you've seen a surgeon do," the very first thing that came to my mind was a guy who took some forceps and a kelly out of a kidney basin in the sink in the icu dirty utility room and proceeded to the bedside to explore a wound with them. ummm, not on my watch, buster. same guy came into the or to operate with a grossly infected hand wound. the or nurses restrained him and called the id nurse, who informed him that this was not gonna happen. he said, "i can operate with just one hand, i'll just keep this one under my gown, see, ok?" ummm, no.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Eek! I'm interested in OR nursing, but this is making me nervous. Do surgeons usually throw things?

[CheesePotato, BSN, RN]

Eek! I'm interested in OR nursing, but this is making me nervous. Do surgeons usually throw things?

Only the crazy ones, my dear. But fear not, and remember two things:

1) Most hospitals have a zero tolerance policy as well as reporting procedure for these type of happenings. Never hesitate to report. I am a professional and demand to be treated as such.

2) If you can dodge a mallet, you can dodge a ball.

Mmhm.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

no, they do not, and any that does gets reported stat to the hospital risk management office (which, believe me, wants to know about this) and the chief of surgery and/or the head of that surgeon's practice group, if private. do not lose sleep wondering if someone is going to be a jerk in your future. he or she may, but someone will have your back.

i worked with a wonderful chief of cardiac surg who sent many, many excellent residents out into the world who now head their respective cardiac surgery programs, and i never knew that as a group cardiac surgeons were reputed to be jerks until i left there. he never tolerated any such shenanigans in the or or in the icu, and made it very explicitly clear to every year's crop of incoming house staff that they would under no circumstances disrespect us (including little displays of temper like throwing instruments in the or). made for an excellent program with great care from all concerned.

[Lemonator]

Well, I'm hoping things are better at this hospital I worked at 15 years ago, but the surgeons and anesthesiologists there were insane at the time. Administration did not back nursing AT ALL. I saw instruments being thrown across the room, anesthesiologists falling asleep at the head of the table, circulators being squirted with saline by the surgeons, you name it--it happened. The worst thing that happened to me though was during a TURP. The surgeon called me around to the foot of the table and proceeded to forcefully push on the patient's bladder really quickly which sent a stream of bloody urine and fluids straight towards my face. Luckily, I dodged. Long story-shortened---administration laughed me off. I left shortly after that. If that happened to me today though, I would have pressed charges for attempted manslaughter due to the blood.

[rbs105, ADN, MSN, RN]

Holy crap, Lemonator....did you work where I worked? The doctors bring in the money, therefore they got away with all kinds of stuff where I was at! Fortunately, where I work now is not so tolerating, but I have seen items thrown, equipment broken and even a scrub tech who got a fist to the chest (surgeon got sent to 'anger management' and the scrub never had to work with him). I have seen towels get stapled to all kinds of body parts-many over the groin for protection. Its not so much the staples going in that is the problem as how they are pulled out, but you can take care to remove them gently and spare themselves.

To Not_A_Hat_Person, I LOVE the OR!! It is an aggressive, fast paced environment, but I laugh my butt off harder and enjoy myself more than any day I had working on the floor! When you learn how to put up with these docs and they realize you are just going to give it back, they back down and will start to joke with you. We had an orthopedic surgeon who was screaming about his instruments because they were so loose (clamps were just falling open) and he was getting really mad and starting to pitch a real fit. He yelled, "I like them to be stiff!!" Without even thinking, I yelled back "That's what she said!!" and he just started laughing. It's awesome! Where else do you get to watch grown men act like 3 year olds who haven't had their nap and then make fun of them for it later??

Have been in the OR for 5 years now and wouldn't trade my job for the world. Humor is essential as well as the ability to stand up for oneself, refuse to take crap, own up to your mistakes, work hard and not take things too seriously. It's the only way to survive!

rbs105

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

OP, this is fairly common.

[Scrubby]

The weirdest thing I saw a surgeon do was during a lap incisional hernia repair. He had trouble getting a large mesh down the port so he took the port out and shoved the mesh through the incision and used the lap graspers to pull it through. Not surprisingly, he ripped the mesh in pieces when it got stuck which cost thousands of dollars.

[goats'r'us, ASN, RN]

2) If you can dodge a mallet, you can dodge a ball.

i think i just peed a little.

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

very common, happens all the time, and in actuality, the staples r so small, sometimes u cnt see the puncture marks.....