circulating and scrubbing?

Editorial Team / Admin · May 18, 2012

At my hospital, scrubs are primarily STs. They're cheaper. The RNs on the heart team do seem to scrub routinely, although not all of them do, and it's as a second assistant, not as the instrument person. We do have 1 RNFA and 1 CFA (ST) and have another RN in training for RNFA and positions open for CFAs. They are completely separate from other RNs and STs. The only role they do is RNFA or CFA except for extreme crisis situations where we are desperate for another circulator or ST to hand instruments.

NP Sam · May 19, 2012

We have a couple scrubulators where I work.

Argo · May 19, 2012

In TX it was all CST. In CO its mostly RN scrubs up in the mtns.. they are hiring a few csts now though. Out if 25 staff there are 3 cst right now.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · May 19, 2012

It depends on where you work. If you work at a university hospital, it is unlikely that they will employ RNFAs, but I hope this will change soon. On the other hand, university hospitals also largely expect the RNs to be able to scrub and circulate. STs are less expensive to employ, so there isn't much opportunity for nurses to scrub routinely. However, in my experience, if you let your NM know that you are more interested in scrubbing than circulating, they can routinely assign you to a scrub role. I work with several nurses who scrub MOST of the time because they let their NM know that they prefer this role. Some nurses don't like to scrub, and some don't know how.

shodobe · May 20, 2012

are there many hospitals out there that have RNs who circulate and scrub? And I don't mean scrub once a month but consistently scrub? I am interested in RNFA but I work at a hospital where most scrubbing is done by techs. Thanks!

I have been at this for going on 36 years and when I first started this we only had RNs and they had to do both. We went for many years having ONE Tech who was an LVN until maybe 5 years ago when we hired the first real ST in a very looooong time. All RNs being hired had to learn to do both since my Director at that time felt the best person for both jobs was an RN, an opinion I still hold dear. Since an RN who can do both is a better asset to any OR more than the one dimensional ST it was felt this was the best direction. Since that Director retired the new one feels the best for scrubbing is the economical ST. And unfortunately the new RN hires are not being trained as a scrub, what a waste. We have hired 3 techs over the past year or so and they are very good at what they do, so I really can't complain to much. As for learning to scrub it would be a challenge to find somewhere that would train you. The bottom line is what management can save in salaries vs what is best for the patient. I have always had a hard line on this subject for many years, look at my past posts, so there are many out there that will whole heartely disagree with me, but I am an old OR nurse so you can't change my spots too easily. Good luck in finding somewhere.

Traveler4life · May 20, 2012

I wish that I had attended a peri-op program that taught scrubbing as well as circulating! They didn't because the hospital also had a state recognized scrub tech program. I have since looked into learning but there aren't many options for a RN that is already in the OR.

In addition, as a traveling OR nurse I find that I miss out on some cool opportunities because I can't scrub. It's very frustrating. Most of the facilities I have recently taken assignments in utilize their nurses in both the scrub and circulating roles. If I wanted to take a staff position I could probably get my current NM to train me, but I don't want to give up traveling either.

Guess I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.....

-T

kguill975, MSN, APRN, NP · May 28, 2012

Most hospitals that use AORN's Periop program put their interns in a scrub rotation as well as circulating rotation. At my current place, there are quite a few of us who can do both. It helps out when there are call-ins for scrubs. Here in Houston, we have a few hospitals that are RN only, like Shriner's and MEDVAMC. I know nurses that went there and were trained to scrub even if they were experienced. If you ask your OR educator for opportunities to scrub, they would be more than happy to help as long as there are enough nurses to cover staffing needs. It's a great skill to have, and it makes you a lot more marketable. I have never had an interview where I wasn't asked if I knew how to scrub.