help! Are surgical techs and RNs the same??

[BernadetteRNBSN]

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.

[mcorrao77]

Thanks for the input Marie LPN and Corvette Guy! :)

[Corvette Guy]

thanks for the input marie lpn and corvette guy! :)

your welcome & have a

happy new year!

[stevierae]

Hold your leader accountable and when they fix stuff, show them some love.

I agree with the "hold them accountable" part. That's why management gets the big bucks.

I don't agree with calling management our "leader(s.)"

I also don't agree that it's necessary (or even appropriate) to be confronting ANYONE at the scrub sink before they scrub in, for WHATEVER the issue is. All that does is create tension and possibly anger on the part of the person who is confronted--and that's not appropriate for someone getting ready to focus his or her attention on an operation. Issues can be dealt with privately. Personally, if I had a problem with a surgeon, anesthesiologist, or co-worker, I'd take it up with him privately, and expect him to do the same for me. Neither of us needs to run to management and "tattle" and I find it somewhat patronizing that you think any of us want or need your intervention or "help." Also, we are quite adept at fixing our own "problems," whatever they may be, in our rooms. Most of the surgeons I've worked with would have told you to F*** off if you confronted them at the scrub sink.

When will management ever get it? They are not our "friends." Most places are like this---the surgeons, anesthesiologists, RNs and techs are a team. We stick together against our mutual enemy--management, who generally has one thing in mind---cutting the budget to the bone to satisfy the higher ups in hospital administration and turn a higher profit.

"Show them some love?" Please! If you need "positive strokes" I think you need to get a life outside the operating room.

[Corvette Guy]

Originally Posted by mobilsurgrn

Hold your leader accountable and when they fix stuff, show them some love.

---

I agree with the "hold them accountable" part. That's why management gets the big bucks.

I don't agree with calling management our "leader(s.)"

I also don't agree that it's necessary (or even appropriate) to be confronting ANYONE at the scrub sink before they scrub in, for WHATEVER the issue is. All that does is create tension and possibly anger on the part of the person who is confronted--and that's not appropriate for someone getting ready to focus his or her attention on an operation. Issues can be dealt with privately. Personally, if I had a problem with a surgeon, anesthesiologist, or co-worker, I'd take it up with him privately, and expect him to do the same for me. Neither of us needs to run to management and "tattle" and I find it somewhat patronizing that you think any of us want or need your intervention or "help." Also, we are quite adept at fixing our own "problems," whatever they may be, in our rooms. Most of the surgeons I've worked with would have told you to F*** off if you confronted them at the scrub sink.

When will management ever get it? They are not our "friends." Most places are like this---the surgeons, anesthesiologists, RNs and techs are a team. We stick together against our mutual enemy--management, who generally has one thing in mind---cutting the budget to the bone to satisfy the higher ups in hospital administration and turn a higher profit.

"Show them some love?" Please! If you need "positive strokes" I think you need to get a life outside the operating room.

Hello Stevierae,

I will try to not be as harsh here with my reply d/t tact is a wonderful message board tool. ["...get a life..." ]

Your focus on "show them some love" was taken out of context, IMHO. My interpretation of mobilsurgrn's post is to show appreciation towards leadership staff when they hold true to their responsibilities. IMHO, everyone deserves recognition & appreciation when earned.

[Red Kroovy]

AORN Position Statement...

"AORN believes individuals who are not licensed to practice professional nursing and who perform in the role of scrub person are performing a delegated technical function under the direct supervision of a perioperative registered nurse."

[Corvette Guy]

AORN Position Statement...

"AORN believes individuals who are not licensed to practice professional nursing and who perform in the role of scrub person are performing a delegated technical function under the direct supervision of a perioperative registered nurse."

[joshrissasmom]

Hi I don't know where you live/work, but I live in Atlantic Canada and to be a surgical tech you must already be an LPN as a prerequisite. So when you talk about a license on the line I am assuming the ST's where you live have no license? I am training to be a ST here now and we have to retain our LPN license in order to work as an ST, so here we also have a license to protect! I currently work fulltime in the OR, as an ST while I am doing my course and I feel we the ST'S and the RN's seem to work well together and don't judge each other on our level of training, we are all here for the same reason and we all have a job to do why can't everyone just respect each other's education and do our jobs!! Not everyone aspires to be an RN... I myself enjoy my job as an LPN/ST and don't have any plans on training to be an RN. We are all important no matter what our jobs are!!