Bossy scrub person

ebear, BSN, RN · Oct 20, 2007

Hey, Mike!

Uhhh...does a cat have an ass?? Yes, and they used to make me want to scream! I think some of the surgeon's personalities must rub off on them at the field. :devil:

ebear

hotdog19d · Oct 21, 2007

It torques me a little, but I'm still new, so I just try to chalk it up to them trying to help me learn. I don't know if thats always the case, but I'd like to think so.

tessa_RN · Oct 21, 2007

We have a Tech that has been there for a million years and she tries to tell people how to circulate out of field..It kills me...

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 21, 2007

We have a Tech that has been there for a million years and she tries to tell people how to circulate out of field..It kills me...

We had one of those, they had a party at a local restaurant when she retired. And she was the only one who wasn't there, because she wasn't invited lol. It was a celebration of her leaving.

I always ask nicely for things, saying "please." I've only demanded something from the circulator one time, and that was after asking nicely twice, and she wasn't paying attention because she and another nurse (who has just come into the room to chat and had no business being there) were discussing in a normal tone of voice, the recent "weekend sexfest" she had with her "new boyfriend" after a "long dryspell." And after she started in discussing the bf's uh physical features, i was finally fed up with having to try to talk over that crap and said "Dr. ______ needs 2-0 silk pop-offs NOW and BEFORE you finish your inappropriate conversation."

elcue · Oct 21, 2007

makes me crazy!!! :angryfire i really hate being spoken to like i'm a short-order cook, when they just call out the name of an item rather than speak to me in full sentences. not to mention the techs who think they should direct me in my work - i've been doing my job - and theirs - since before many of them were born.....i sometimes wonder if part of the tech curriculum is to ingrain in them that rns are stupid......ugh. enough already.... :banghead:

Crux1024 · Oct 21, 2007

I sometimes wonder if part of the tech curriculum is to ingrain in them that RNs are stupid......ugh. enough already....

Its Not. Thanks for asking though. (

IsseyM · Oct 22, 2007

It torques me a little, but I'm still new, so I just try to chalk it up to them trying to help me learn. I don't know if thats always the case, but I'd like to think so.

Same here. I still consider myself a newbie and try to look at it as if they're just helping me.

PRESLA · Oct 22, 2007

]:angryfire I found trouble c a scrub tech who was trying to get into nsg school she thought that she knew everything. I did L&D and we had central monitoring she would sit back in the OR and watch the screens, call you if you were pushing, baby decels she would call and ask if I would be bringing the pt back for a section because she is watching the monitor and she thinks the strip looks bad and pt needs to be cut. It like leave me alone the baby is crowning and this is normal tracing GO AWAY. Not much respect in the OR either the MD's and CNM's also complain.

Lisa :argue:

Rezidentura · Oct 25, 2007

Okay I may get flammed for this but here goes.

You as a nurse make easily twice what they do. Take solice in knowing this, also remember no matter what they think, they could never do your job as good as they think they can ( I've seen many a scrub tech get an RN and have a dose of their own medicine it's an eye opener for them)

How do you deal with them? I found and here's where the flaming will come in, if you give them some serious props they tend to back off. I act very humble around these types commenting on their obvious experience and I've found not only did the bossiness decrease but I got along with these better than other nurses who just complain about them.

Also if you simply can't stand the behavior tell them to their faces at an appropriate time. Don't gossip or ***** about it, all this will do is get back to the person and reinforce the behavior.

HeatherB,CST · Oct 27, 2007

I think the above poster's advice is good for dealing with any difficult person, along the lines of catching more flies with honey vs. vinegar. I'm sure that there are difficult Surgical Techs out there, insecure and snippy ones, but please don't anyone let that shape your opinion of STs as a whole. I've been annoyed by an OR nurse when I was the patient, but that certainty doesn't make me ask if nursing school teaches that patients are stupid.

I believe you are right to say that most STs could not do the job of an RN. They have not been to nursing school, so how could they? However, to say as much to a tech will only bring you more grief. Many techs earned an associate degree in ST. The core classes differ, but the pre-reqs are usually identical or close, and the classes are no less challenging. It's just apples and oranges. ST school is, from what I understand, heavier on sterile technique, instruments, and surgical procedures. ALL of their clinical hours in school were spent in an OR.

I have the utmost respect for nurses, especially OR nurses, but I could see getting offended if an RN with 2 years of school under her belt insinuated that I am less educated than her (or him). If both roles viewed each other as fellow team members with the common goal of patient safety, and not as threats or nuisances, much of this "Sturm und Drang" would never take place to begin with.

I hope what I have said is taken in the spirit it was intended. I am just tired of hearing about the STvsRN battles, it makes me nervous about my chosen field, and I'm not even out of school yet.

ebear, BSN, RN · Oct 27, 2007

By nature, a person who works in the O.R. must be extremely assertive to SURVIVE. This often comes across as "bossy". Sometimes, after a case is over, I will laughingly tell a scrub tech "you 'ol bit*#&!! then we'll both laugh! After you work together for a while, just a "look" will do the trick on both parts. Techs are the ones on the "firing line" and I do respect most of them, as long as they're NOT telling me what to do while I'm in the middle of doing it!!! uugghhhh!!!!!! (or they make suggestions for me that the doc hasn't even mentioned!) Anyone who has never worked in an O.R. has no clue about "O.R. culture" and often think we are crass and rude. I guess you just have to be there...

ebear