In Surgical tech. program and not too happy.

Is this a joke?

No, it's actually true, but I was just venting because I'm kind of frustrated right now.

Is this a joke?

Obvious troll is obvious?

your frustrations are understandable. did you research the education and clinical rotations you would be expected to attend?

every 'health care' field is essentially like that. you have clinicals which are separated from classroom experience, and a lot of info is thrown at you to study. it is a lot of self study/self teaching/personal responsibility to understand it. clincals require you to perform the procedure correctly, you must maintain the sterile field at all times.

your experience is very much like my nursing school experience. a lot of info is given at one time, and you are expected to study for 2-4 hours every day in order to understand and discuss it. i did know what the education and clinicals entailed though.

i also commute 45 minutes for my program, so i wake up at 5:00 am everyday except for clinical days, where i wake up at 4:00 am.

health care fields are tough, but they have to be.

Hello there...

First of all,,,,I understand you are venting and this is definitely the place to do it. I feel your pain and hope it gets better

2nd,,, FYI, all those things you are going through are universal in healthcare programs. I am sure they nit pick in ultrasound and radiographics too. (I imagine your technique in ultrasound must be tops coz they want to make sure you can pick up any irregularities with a fetus etc...in radiographics,,,am sure they emphasize safety with the xrays and making sure you are aware of it at all times)

In surgical tech....of course sterile field will be over emphasized. Think about it if you were the patient lying on the table getting a quadruple bypass, and some tech (or surgeon or nurse) is completely blase about sterility....then you end up with a ranging infection r/t cross contamination.........etc etc....

Anyways,,,,Feel free to vent as long as you remember that any good healthcare program MUST insist on the students mastering the basics otherwise they should be shut down...

I remember the stress of trying to insert a foley cath completely sterile with the instructor all over my personal space...talk about stress...

your frustrations are understandable. did you research the education and clinical rotations you would be expected to attend?

every 'health care' field is essentially like that. you have clinicals which are separated from classroom experience, and a lot of info is thrown at you to study. it is a lot of self study/self teaching/personal responsibility to understand it. clincals require you to perform the procedure correctly, you must maintain the sterile field at all times.

your experience is very much like my nursing school experience. a lot of info is given at one time, and you are expected to study for 2-4 hours every day in order to understand and discuss it. i did know what the education and clinicals entailed though.

i also commute 45 minutes for my program, so i wake up at 5:00 am everyday except for clinical days, where i wake up at 4:00 am.

health care fields are tough, but they have to be.

we will not know where we will be assigned for clinicals for a few months yet. to my understanding, we have to pass all 4 components first before we get a clinical assignment. i heard a rumor that they actually lost quite a bit of clinicals because of students in the past making mistakes. but, if any component is failed, one would have to come back next year, the option if available. as a matter of fact, in lecture there were several students over from the previous class who failed a component. as of today, only 1 of about 6 of those students have come back, the others just quit. i just have to get in the groove of things, and i have health problems like high testosterone levels, sleep apnea, depression, low cortisol, super high crp levels, porphyria, and hypertension, and i require a certain amt of sleep everyday. and like i stated earlier, the teacher had changed the schedule from what the catalog showed the hours would be. thanks for understanding though.

Oh dude, if you are not happy NOW, you most certainly won't be happy when you actually start working in the OR. YES, sterility is king in the OR, YES, you have to drop scrub if you contaminate yourself, and YES, you have to learn all of the instruments. Your instructor is being hard on you now so that you will understand the importance of maintaining sterility in the OR.

What do you think will happen if you contaminate yourself or your back table during a total joint procedure and that pt gets an infection in the joint? The hardware will have to be removed (2nd surgery for the pt), a new antibiotic spacer will be put in place, the pt will have to heal from that along with having to take oral abx, then new hardware will have to be put in (3rd surgery for the pt), and then the surgeon must only HOPE that the joint is stable enough to heal properly. This is only one example that comes to mind. There are countless others.

If attention to detail is not something you are good at, then quit the program. It sounds like you are unhappy about several components of the program. Go into something else. To do ST, you MUST be vigilant, you MUST have the pt's well being at the front of your mind, and you MUST stand on your feet in order to help the surgeons, who are also standing on their feet all day.

Just out of curiosity how much research did you do before applying for this program? If you just listened to what the school told you (This career has excellent growth potential! You'll make so much money!) then I can see how you're in this mess.

The first thing I did before applying for the program at my local hospital was call all the hospitals and surgical centers in the area and find out if they use surgical techs, what the pay rate was, the hours and what school they would favor hiring from.

Another thing that worries me is you say you can't tolerate being in class for such a long time then how would you be able to stand being in the OR for 10-12 hours doing a tense but tedious surgery?

And last but, not least what makes you think radiation therapy or ultrasound tech would be any easier? Those programs are just as long and just as intense if not more than surg tech.

Hello there...

First of all,,,,I understand you are venting and this is definitely the place to do it. I feel your pain and hope it gets better

2nd,,, FYI, all those things you are going through are universal in healthcare programs. I am sure they nit pick in ultrasound and radiographics too. (I imagine your technique in ultrasound must be tops coz they want to make sure you can pick up any irregularities with a fetus etc...in radiographics,,,am sure they emphasize safety with the xrays and making sure you are aware of it at all times)

In surgical tech....of course sterile field will be over emphasized. Think about it if you were the patient lying on the table getting a quadruple bypass, and some tech (or surgeon or nurse) is completely blase about sterility....then you end up with a ranging infection r/t cross contamination.........etc etc....

Anyways,,,,Feel free to vent as long as you remember that any good healthcare program MUST insist on the students mastering the basics otherwise they should be shut down...

I remember the stress of trying to insert a foley cath completely sterile with the instructor all over my personal space...talk about stress...

yes, thank you! it is advice like yours that will help me through. this is the first time i'm going into the heath field and i guess i'm just wet behind the ears to all of this. i guess i really don't have a problem with maintaining a sterile field. i can do that. i just have a problem with the boot camp style way he is teaching it. i really don't like people yelling at me over something, and when someone else does it, it seems to go unnoticed. i think i'm really having issues with fairness more than anything in this too.

I kind of wish now that I would have gone into either the ultrasound or radiation therapy because it would've been so much easier.

Wrong kiddo. Ultrasound nor Radiation would be easier. They would be equally difficult, if not more difficult. Tons of Chem knowledge is needed for Radiation and let me tell you, the Ultrasound program is WAY more strict than the Surgical Tech program here at my school.

It sounds like more of issues with the teacher than anything. Definitely agree that bad or rude teacher can make your education experience terrible. Such a shame too. Don't let this cruddy teacher control how you feel about a program.

Oh dude, if you are not happy NOW, you most certainly won't be happy when you actually start working in the OR. YES, sterility is king in the OR, YES, you have to drop scrub if you contaminate yourself, and YES, you have to learn all of the instruments. Your instructor is being hard on you now so that you will understand the importance of maintaining sterility in the OR.

What do you think will happen if you contaminate yourself or your back table during a total joint procedure and that pt gets an infection in the joint? The hardware will have to be removed (2nd surgery for the pt), a new antibiotic spacer will be put in place, the pt will have to heal from that along with having to take oral abx, then new hardware will have to be put in (3rd surgery for the pt), and then the surgeon must only HOPE that the joint is stable enough to heal properly. This is only one example that comes to mind. There are countless others.

If attention to detail is not something you are good at, then quit the program. It sounds like you are unhappy about several components of the program. Go into something else. To do ST, you MUST be vigilant, you MUST have the pt's well being at the front of your mind, and you MUST stand on your feet in order to help the surgeons, who are also standing on their feet all day.

i totally understand what you are saying. i think what it boils down to really is the lack of sleep i'm getting making me cranky, and the boot camp style way he is teaching the material. but i do understand that fomites and patients in surgery do not mix. i do not want a patient sick over my negligence that's for sure. i think i will try to stick it out. when i do start working in OR, if i ever get there, i think i will know the material by then like the back of my hand and so it shouldn't be a problem. as a matter of fact, teacher said that most surgeons not only do not know, but do not practice sterility. so maybe we gotta watch them more closely too. once i start working, i'll be getting better rest, and all will be better i hope.