OR Huddles

[bryan_del, ADN, MSN]

So, there’s a high chance I might accept a job in the OR. I have a question, for anyone who can be so kind to explain, what are huddles in the OR? Who’s in charge of them? And what is the role of the nurse in those huddles? Thanks in advance.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

That will most likely vary from facility to facility, but would be similar to huddles run in other units. The OR where I am, the huddle is to discuss any sets that need to be reprocessed for a later case, equipment that was sent to biomed, call offs and if that resulted in call coverage needed, anyone who is covering a room as an extra set of hands, etc. It is not a long huddle at all. Huddle starts at 0700 and ends by 0705 and is run either by the nurse manager, a service line supervisor, or the charge nurse.

[Sassy-RN]

Lol- huddles will be the least of your worries when you start in the OR!

[bryan_del, ADN, MSN]

On 8/28/2019 at 8:36 PM, Sassy-RN said:

Lol- huddles will be the least of your worries when you start in the OR!

So what would you say will be my biggest worry?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

On 8/31/2019 at 7:57 AM, bryan_del said:

So what would you say will be my biggest worry?

The OR comes with a steep learning curve as it typically isn't covered in nursing school. You will be learning all the basics of patient care in the OR- assessment (consents, understanding of procedure), patient education (what to expect in the OR), positioning (and how to protect a patient that can't protect themself), prepping (decreasing the risk of infection), patient safety such as the equipment, counting, etc., and so much more on the circulating side. Then there's the challenge of learning to scrub if you will be learning that as well.

Huddles truly won't be a contributor to you learning the role of the nurse in the OR.

[bryan_del, ADN, MSN]

1 hour ago, Rose_Queen said:

The OR comes with a steep learning curve as it typically isn't covered in nursing school. You will be learning all the basics of patient care in the OR- assessment (consents, understanding of procedure), patient education (what to expect in the OR), positioning (and how to protect a patient that can't protect themself), prepping (decreasing the risk of infection), patient safety such as the equipment, counting, etc., and so much more on the circulating side. Then there's the challenge of learning to scrub if you will be learning that as well.

Huddles truly won't be a contributor to you learning the role of the nurse in the OR.

Thanks for the feedback. The training program where I will be at is going to be 9 months long so yea I’ll pretty much be learning all the roles of the OR