MA circulates?

Specialties Operating Room

Published

so... i saw an ad from craigslist, looking for a MA to circulate in cosmetic surgical procedures? can MA do that? i mean is it LEGAL? i spoke to a scrub tech before, she's not a rn nor lpn/lvn, but she said that, she does pre-op, circulate, & rr. so MA's & techs have the same responsibilities as a RN cause they do go for jobs fitted for a RN.... i thought this was weird! correct me if im wrong, but i thought that's not part of their scope of practice. anyway... shed me some light here please.

P.S.

I meant no offense to techs nor MAs. Just a curious thought in my head as I was taught differently (it is required by LAW that a RN must be present at all times in the OR).

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

only an rn can circulate.

aorn believes that or staffing skill mix ratios must ensure that every patient undergoing a surgical or invasive procedure has a perioperative registered nurse in the role of circulator.6

this is taken directly from the aorn position statement for operating room staffing. you can go on their site to see other position statements regarding various practices in the or.

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

state dept of health and joint commision also regulate that there be an RN per patient in the OR suite.... There are some plastic surgery office ORs/proceedure rooms that operate on the fine line of legal.... the nurses in these places operate on the fine line of legal too.... I know a few plastic surgeons that try to skimp on their costs and their nurses put their license in jeopardy every day, not to mention the patients lives....

TX laws wording is kind of interesting, a periop RN must be immediately available to their patient, one RN per patient. What exactly is "immediately available"?

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Specializes in OR; Telemetry; PACU.

And some teeter on that line by having a RN scrub so there is a RN in the room. :rolleyes: More than anything having an MA/ST pre-op and recover patients is *shudder* what worries me. I worked PACU for a few years and I had ICU/Tele experience. No way should someone without a nursing license and experience be recovering.

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Specializes in OR.

In our state it is illegal. By law, an RN has to circulate.

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Specializes in OR.

Speaking from personal experience, if you knew the credentials (or lack of) of the people working in some private plastic surgery centers, you'd be asking a lot of questions before A) interviewing at one B) having a procedure at one. I briefly had a position where the M.A. was circulating, recovering, filling out signed scripts and basically doing everything an RN does. I was told it was all legal because she was working under the plastic surgeons medical license. Really? I mean really? The narc counts were a joke and when I brought this up, within 24 hours I was fired for "not fitting in." My experience is not an isolated one.

I don't believe all are like this but this was in a major city, with a well-known surgeon and a very busy $$ practice. If I ever have any plastic procedures done, I will go into having done lots of homework ahead of time. I don't want an RN immediately available, I want an RN who is in the room and is the one circulating, recovering and assessing me.

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Specializes in OR Hearts 10.
Speaking from personal experience, if you knew the credentials (or lack of) of the people working in some private plastic surgery centers, you'd be asking a lot of questions before A) interviewing at one B) having a procedure at one. I briefly had a position where the M.A. was circulating, recovering, filling out signed scripts and basically doing everything an RN does. I was told it was all legal because she was working under the plastic surgeons medical license. Really? I mean really? The narc counts were a joke and when I brought this up, within 24 hours I was fired for "not fitting in." My experience is not an isolated one.

I don't believe all are like this but this was in a major city, with a well-known surgeon and a very busy $$ practice. If I ever have any plastic procedures done, I will go into having done lots of homework ahead of time. I don't want an RN immediately available, I want an RN who is in the room and is the one circulating, recovering and assessing me.

Bingo!!! I was an Oral Surgery Assistant before going to nursing school. Did all sorts things, sedation, recovery, call in RX, etc.. I'm sure in the Dr OFFICE they can get away with just about anything. The key to RN cirulating is everything else you all mentioned pertains to the "OR ONLY"

The other concern is hiring off CraigsList...really???

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

If that was the case surgery_RN I would call the medical board, dea and state health dept. It is illegal. They can not do iv conscious sedation in their office with an RN monitoring their patients intra and post op. PO and some inhalation is ok. They also have very strict guidelines from the DEA on narcs.....

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I wonder if an MA would know how to recognize malignant hyperthermia?

There are REASONS why only an RN can circulate.

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Hi! I am currently working for an office of Oral surgeons as an oral surgery assistant and I am also in nursing school. I saw that you had worked in the same field I do before your nursing profession and I wanted to know if your transition was difficult. I was contemplating switching jobs to work in a hospital as a CNA just to be closer to the environment I want to work in after graduation. I was wondering if you had any advice for me? Thank you so much in advance! :)

-Overwhelmed Nursing student

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Specializes in OR Hearts 10.

Do you do OR cases (in the hospital setting)? That is a big help if you want to get into the OR after nursing school. It's nice when someone at least knows sterile technique and what to touch and not touch in the OR.

I went to nursing school thinking I would go into the OR after school, but then thought I may want to teach so went to the floor. After almost 2 years of that an OR position opened at a small community hospital (2 OR's) near where I was living at the time. I did that for 9 months then moved back to TX, then got a position in a 14 room OR, 6 months after that I was on the heart team. Last fall I was getting burnt out in the OR and went back to the floor, LOL, 7 months of that and back home to the OR. The OR is a piece of cake compared to the floor (sorry OR nurses).

If you want to work in the OR get all the OR experience you can. Try to get an extern position, sterile processing, unit clerk ANY position in the OR, we like to grow our own.

Good luck with school. Feel free to PM with any other questions.

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