help! Are surgical techs and RNs the same??

BernadetteRNBSN · Nov 10, 2005

well today was very interesting. I had a talk with a scrub tech and a mediator to discuss how she is inapproprite often times before, during, and after a case. She is so bold and brazen to tell the surgeons, residents, and nurses what to do or "what you need to do". I just wanted to let her know that that is out of her scope of practice. and her scope of practice is what ever her job discription says (thanks Carcha) Well she informed me that she is 36 and can say what she wants if she wants to voice her opinion and if i did not have specific details of an events "this meeting is over!!" can you say insubordinate......... see because they have us as equals there is no respect. I think people are afraid of her. I am not. I feel so disrespected. i just don't want tension in my room when she is my tech. I believe there is no changing her and i am simply going to write her @$#@$ up each and everytime she is inappropriate. She really is ruining my many years of anger management. I hate to go to that dark place, but i just might...............

PS thanks for the advice on the job discription. i ran and got mine right away and read it from front to back!!!

SFCardiacRN · Nov 11, 2005

Note to Pam...techs in charge of RN's??? Sounds like admin has gone crazy. Be careful of your license. Anyway, I currently have a tech that "knows everything" and won't take direction. I had been warning him about the way he passes sharps and sure enough, he just jabbed a #15 scalpel into his palm. Fortunately he's a travelor and has 7 weeks to change or I won't recommend re-hire. (Our other 4 temp techs have been wonderful!)

ortess1971 · Nov 11, 2005

I agree with Marie LPN-respect has to go both ways. We all know that the OR is a team oriented atmosphere and everyone is important. I personally have told the other techs where I work to feel free to give me a boot in the ass if I start to become high and mighty when I finish nursing school. I don't think the circulator's job is easy but I also have a problem when an RN who is incapable of scrubbing(thankfully, not too many of those where I work) seems to think she knows best about what the doctor needs. I've had a certain circulator refuse to give me suture during a vascular case because she's trying to save money. Anyone who works vascular knows that you should have a backup suture in case the one they are using breaks etc. I'm fortunate though because the team atmosphere is prized at my hospital and everyone is valued and respected for their skills and knowledge.

BernadetteRNBSN · Nov 11, 2005

if you are not a nurse than you truly do not understand.

(a licensed practicing nurse)

becoming a nurse is a journey that is never forgotten. maintaining your license is a continuous journey.

if you are a nurse than you want to be treated like you have some ounce of knowledge.

respect is secondary to acknowledging professionalislm.

(a college education {that cost a small house}=knowledge).

if you are not a nurse, you can make suggestions but you can most certainly not tell a nurse "what she/he needs to do"!

that is my point.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Nov 11, 2005

'Scuse me for replying/suggesting, then. :stone

fusster · Nov 11, 2005

At my hospital, circulating nurses can do the job of surgical techs (basically just hand tools to the surgeon and count for the circulating RN), but surgical techs cannot do the job of the circulating nurse. Here, nurses are in charge of the room and you don't wanna mess with them.

sunnyjohn · Nov 11, 2005

In the Surgical Technologist/ Circulating Nurse dyanamic, the Circualtor runs the show 'cause if mess hits the fan it is his/her license on the line!

HOWEVER since I have NEVER been rude or disrespectful to ANYONE at work I would hate for my Circualting nurse to just brush aside my FEW requests or suggestions, especially since I am less than 10 inches away from the surgeon and will have to directly bear his/her anger if things go poorly.

My mama didn't raise me that way. As an adult respect for one's co-workers should be a simple matter.

I have decently and tactfully gotten out of working with a few nurses mainly because they ran a toxic room. I've also not co-scrubbed with a few techs cause they were terrible people with horrid manners who I would not let work on my beloved kitty-cat.

Yes, I am a Certified Surgical Technologist who will soon be an RN!

BernadetteRNBSN · Nov 11, 2005

sunny john,

i hate to say it but as much as you don't want it to happen, uh......:uhoh21: some (most) surg tech will treat you diffferently once you become a nurse. I have been very disappointed by the way i had been treated, especially since i was a surgical tech for 15 long years. I don't understand it. I am still a human being. But i am a nurse who is legally responsible for my team. I am not the devil. I considered myself a team player.

Anyway i want you to email me when you are off on your own running rooms for about a good six months I am curious. At times it's awesome, and other times i want to :angryfire fuss every one out in the room. Man this is exhausting:o :o

sunnyjohn · Nov 12, 2005

BernadetteRNBSN,

I will be SURE to email and PM you. I will need all the tips I can get! I am sure I will catch a few 'tudes!

I know some techs act funny towards former techs who go to nursing school. I personally think its jealousy.

I'm not going to lie, though I've NEVER mistreated any co-worker, I've secretly envied former CST's who are now nurses. I so wanted it to be me!

This is my thinking, even if the nurse is dead wrong on an issue, the tech should RESPECTFULLY disagree. If you express your opinion to the nurse, as long as she/he is not asking you to do anything negligent, criminal or immoral, you have done your duty to the patient. If it ever unfortunately, gets to court you have covered yourself by speaking up RESPECTFULLY.

And if the nurse turns out to be right, SAY SO! Tell him/her they were right! You disagreed RESPECTFULLY and you stood up like a decent human being. Same thing should apply for the nurse.

Heck, every one has someone in some aspect of their life that has the obligation of telling them what to do. Accept it! Along with that obligation of leadership comes responsibility. If they abuse it, time will certainly tell.

Decent behaviour fosters health work environments and healthy patients.

Agape~ Sunny

p.s/ Bernadette is the name of my favorite cousin. Your post reminded me I haven't called her in a while! :kiss

FST66E · Nov 12, 2005

As an RN who spent several years as a scrub I can say I have had the exact same experience.

I recently started a new job and I realize that people don't know my abilities yet but I am an RN with lots of experience and deserve at least a minimum of respect.

I had a show down with a tech last week who basicaly treated me like I didn't know a hemostat from a hole in the ground. It would be nice if people would wait to see what you know before they assume that you know nothing! :angryfire

O.K. off my soapbox.

:)

ortess1971 · Nov 18, 2005

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.

The very fact that you state "why did I bother becoming a nurse if I'm equal to a tech" leads me to believe that maybe the poor attitude goes both ways. Yes, you are an R.N but that does not make you superior or better than anyone. I would hope you became a nurse to provide the best quality of care to your patients-that is why I am doing this. But then again, I provide an excellent standard of care as a tech.:) You may have a personality conflict with this particular tech and she should not be treating you in an unprofessional manner. However, the fact that you have RN after your name doesn't exempt you from treating all employees of the OR with respect. Everyone is important.

Corvette Guy · Nov 18, 2005

The very fact that you state "why did I bother becoming a nurse if I'm equal to a tech" leads me to believe that maybe the poor attitude goes both ways. Yes, you are an R.N but that does not make you superior or better than anyone. I would hope you became a nurse to provide the best quality of care to your patients-that is why I am doing this. But then again, I provide an excellent standard of care as a tech.:) You may have a personality conflict with this particular tech and she should not be treating you in an unprofessional manner. However, the fact that you have RN after your name doesn't exempt you from treating all employees of the OR with respect. Everyone is important.

Ortess1971,

You are a nursing student, right? If so, maybe you have not learned, yet, how valuable your nursing license will be. After you've passed the NCLEX, and have a vested interest in keeping your nursing license, then maybe you will understand where BernadetteRNBSN is coming from.

It is my understanding she is not saying OR RNs are exempt from respecting all members of the OR team. She is trying to get across the OR RN [Circulator] is the one responsible for the "time out", is the one ultimately responsible for accountabilty of sharps/sponges/instruments, and is the one with the nursing license on the line in a court of law.

A Scrub Tech can seat for a national certification exam, thus the title Certified Surgical Technologist. However, this certification is not recognized as a license, like the one an RN holds. Nonetheless, I do support this certification process for Scrub Techs. I was a CST for 3 years before becoming an RN. So, I definitely understand where BernadetteRNBSN is coming from.