FROM SCRUB AND STITCH TO GLAM AND GLITZ: A Nurse’s Insight to the Operating Room

[wanshengda12]

Working for almost four years, the experience I have as an Operating Room Nurse is truly amazing and rewarding. The nature of our work is totally different from other nursing profession but the value and care we give to our patients remains the same and sometimes even more. From fancy colorful scrubs to complex colossal machines, I had never imagined that there is a luxury of life and learning behind those secluded doors. You never know what to expect and what will happen once the surgery has started. A simple two-hour surgery may last up to 8 hours. What seems to be a small cyst in the ultrasound report may become a malignant multiple tumor upon exploration. It is where the challenge and excitement arises. Aside from physical endurance, you need to develop mental stamina to cope with the ever changing circumstances of the surgical world. Therefore, make sure you keep your tummy full or drink five cups of coffee before the start of the busy shift. It is a rollercoaster of emotions. We welcome every patient firsthand in the holding area before being pushed inside the theater. You can feel the anxiety and fear those patients suffer with. You may hear them sighed or cried especially the children. More often, we meet different nationalities of different tongue, which makes communication harder and may cause more grief or sometimes anger. It is essential that we build a sense of rapport and trust through compassion and empathy. Never let loose of your emotions instead put off your mask and wear your biggest smile. You'll never know it may be the beginning of a new relationship. Scrub nurses and circulating nurses must make sure everything is well prepared and organized before any case. We work in a routine but fast-paced environment. It is very important to be familiar with every surgeons preferences or everything else will be a disaster. You would not want to see any instruments flying around or hear the surgeon's amazing screech during surgery. Moreover, you have to bring in three to five machines and make sure it is all working. For example, you have to learn and remember how many shaft rotations you need to do in a Ligasure Gun to properly connect and disconnect it to the handle and make it function. After then, you can say Fire in the Hole.” We hate to hear the word infection”. Hence, you have to develop all of your senses to the maximum and be vigilant at all times. Also, we value honesty in all aspects since no one is responsible for your own mistake but you alone. That is when you have to insist that everyone must change their gloves at whatever circumstances that breaks the sterility. Therefore, critical thinking and decision making skills must be harnessed to ensure that care is delivered in the most effective and efficient way. Remember, it is not only our profession is at stake but the lives of our patients. OR nurses are considered the backbone of the Operating Room. Together with the most qualified and competent surgical team, we work hand-in- hand to ensure that all procedures are performed at par to the standards of care with regards to the policies and procedures guidelines of the hospital. However, working with the most diverse environment and different personalities entails us to be firm and strong in order to adapt and survive. On a lighter side, you'll have the most supportive and wonderful co-nurses on your side; to finish the intra-operative notes; to help you carry the gigantic foot of a patient; to brag and hug before and after every shift; and most of all to make selfies and welfies with. At the end of the day, despite how smooth and disastrous the experience we had inside, the life of a Perioperative Nurse brings a sense of pride and fulfillment. It is filled with glamour and glitters that brightly shines in the dark. Hence, the most important thing is that our patients value the hard work, dedication and commitment we share through their smiles and their expression of gratitude. And we are proud to say that We let you bleed because we care”.