help! Are surgical techs and RNs the same??

Specialties Operating Room

Published

I am an operating room nurse at a rather large hospital. This facility has made it so that the Surgical techs and the RNs are pretty much equal. Therefore i am often talked to with disrespect and sarcasm, as well as constant undermining. I am feeling like i wasted my time going thru four years of college to have my RN be disregarded. I was a surgical tech for 15years and i never behaved that way. My alligence was always to my nurse. And when things went wrong i knew we had each others back.

I don't want to boss people around but i do think that a lot of the decisions in my room should be left up to me since i have a license on the line. however i am very open to ideas from my scrub person. I just don't like being told what "I need to do!" I feel i have earned the right to make decisions, but if i am seen as equal to my surgical tech then why did i bother being a nurse............. I am trying to be a team player but it just seems kind of weird to me that the roles have been sort of reversed. :crying2:

I am a rn or in Great Britain, hoping some day to get to the States to work. However here in Britain, the RNs scrub and circulate. The responsibility of counts and sharps falls equally on the count nurse and the scrub nurse.

Scrubbing for me is the absolute favorite part of my job, so will I not be able to scrub in the States? ....

Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

nubes, you will be a rarity and a dying breed but very welcomed as a scrub. Mostly you need to question anywhere you might want to work whether you will be able to scrub or only spot scrub. If you came to my hospital you would be able to do both on a regular basis since we only have RNs on our staff. I think most places would let you do both, just check before commiting. Mike

Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

:balloons:

Nurses scrub at my hospital also.

In fact we don't hire nurses who can't scrub.

I have worked at hospitals where the administration has convinced themselves that they save money by hiring techs to scrub but I think it is a mistake.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!:)

Hey guys and gals, just wanted to get some insight/opinions to the posting and i thank you all for doing just that. I know this is a touchy subject if you are not a nurse. However many of us do scrub and first assist and very much understand the role of the scrub nurse/tech. But when there is some thing to loose like ones license, i guess we nurses become a little guarded. b-

ps A nursing license can be had by all if you choose to seek it. :)

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
If they have a business degree. Guess what that takes precidence over your nursing degree. Also experience says a whole lot more than a piece of paper.

Sorry, but someone in CHARGE of nurses SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NURSE at some point in their life.

Putting a non-nurse in as a nursing manager would be like putting a lifelong vegetable farmer in charge of an orchard.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Moderator Note:

Folks, this is another subject (like BSN versus ADN or LPN versus RN)---- that can get heated up quickly. I ask you kindly keep posts friendly, thinking carefully BEFORE you hit the "post" button and also, please leave generalizations out your posts. Surgical techs are an invaluable part of the OR team, to be sure. No need for us to get territorial or rude in our posts.

One other thing: If you find a post rude or attacking, please abide by Terms of Service and do NOT reply in kind; do report the offending post by clicking the Red Triangle, at the bottom left of each post and report it. Let the moderation/administration have a chance to handle things so it does not get out of hand. If you wish to take arguments by Private Message, that is ok, but again do remember Terms of Service regarding flaming and attacks STILL apply there.

Thanks for understanding!!!!

Can this Mod Note be posted as a sticky on the PeriOp forum??????

Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

Originally Posted by SmilingBluEyes

Moderator Note:

Folks, this is another subject (like BSN versus ADN or LPN versus RN)---- that can get heated up quickly. I ask you kindly keep posts friendly, thinking carefully BEFORE you hit the "post" button and also, please leave generalizations out your posts. Surgical techs are an invaluable part of the OR team, to be sure. No need for us to get territorial or rude in our posts.

One other thing: If you find a post rude or attacking, please abide by Terms of Service and do NOT reply in kind; do report the offending post by clicking the Red Triangle, at the bottom left of each post and report it. Let the moderation/administration have a chance to handle things so it does not get out of hand. If you wish to take arguments by Private Message, that is ok, but again do remember Terms of Service regarding flaming and attacks STILL apply there.

Thanks for understanding!!!!

Can this Mod Note be posted as a sticky on the PeriOp forum??????

Excellent request, IMHO! :cool:

Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
Hey guys and gals, just wanted to get some insight/opinions to the posting and i thank you all for doing just that. I know this is a touchy subject if you are not a nurse. However many of us do scrub and first assist and very much understand the role of the scrub nurse/tech. But when there is some thing to loose like ones license, i guess we nurses become a little guarded. b-

ps A nursing license can be had by all if you choose to seek it. :)

:yeah:

Goodness gracious NO! They are not the same! Where I live surg tech is a 1 year diploma course and to get your RN you have to at least obtain a 2 year Associate's degree. That's like comparing apples and oranges. It does no good for the moral of the workplace for anyone to talk down to anyone, maybe you should ask this individual if it's intentional or go through your chain of command to file a complaint - of course that could ruffle feathers. Probably best to speak with this person on a one to one basis and try not to seem like it's a power trip. You know how sensitive some can be. Or you can just let it go and know that no matter what, if the patient is fine, then all is well in the world!

I really want to chew up a lot of people's opinions on this board...... Scrubs running a surgery center.

If they have a business degree. Guess what that takes precidence over your nursing degree. Also experience says a whole lot more than a piece of paper. I've worked in many situations where a procedure isn't going so well, and a doc. has asked my opinion on any techinical ideas that might work. Many times they have used my ideas, and guess what they have worked. I didn't demand they do it my way. They just asked for a suggestion and gave it a shot. They asked me cause this is my job and what I have experience in.

Life is all in how you live it. If you demand respect from people, you won't get it. If you show respect towards others, and treat them like intelligent human beings, then you will get it back. Maybe not from everyone, but the majority of people. Regardless of what you think you are not better than anyone else, but remember no one else is better than you either.

To "chew up" your reply: A business degree and a nursing degree are just that....two different degrees. Neither one takes precidence over the other. But let me just say--if I were the patient, I'd like to know that the "nurse" taking care of me was just that....a NURSE! Not someone with a business degree trying their hand at nursing. If you had to have a triple-bypass or a cardiac cath would you want a cardiologist or a gynecologist? Putting it that way-- heck, if I were in that situation I'd be sure to check credentials at the door. I wouldn't want a nurse doing surgery. It's all about your scope of practice, state laws and admin. No need to say one degree is better than another....they're just different!:nono:

To "chew up" your reply: A business degree and a nursing degree are just that....two different degrees. Neither one takes precidence over the other. But let me just say--if I were the patient, I'd like to know that the "nurse" taking care of me was just that....a NURSE! Not someone with a business degree trying their hand at nursing. If you had to have a triple-bypass or a cardiac cath would you want a cardiologist or a gynecologist? Putting it that way-- heck, if I were in that situation I'd be sure to check credentials at the door. I wouldn't want a nurse doing surgery. It's all about your scope of practice, state laws and admin. No need to say one degree is better than another....they're just different!:nono:

Ok lets try this again in a nice way. You are the third person to respond to what I said. Please reread what I have stated. I did not say that it is ok for a scrub to be a nurse, or a charge nurse, or a perioperative manager. I have not once said that. I am not talking about a hospital either. I am talking about a scrub being the general manager of a surgery center. Please and I am asking in a nice way so I don't come off looking like a jerk. Please reread all of my threads on this particular subject.

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