OR Pet peeves

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Specializes in Med-Surg;Rehab;Gerontology; Now OR.

Having worked in the OR for years, have you developed any pet peeve? Stuff co-workers do that bugs you...daily situations that irritate you? I'm really easy going most of the time but on a looong busy day, there are things that bugs me.

* anesthesiologist on your tail, "Can we come to the OR with the next patient now? , knowing that you literally just came from PACU dropping your last patient, you haven't even been back to the room yet, people are still cleaning. We are a teaching hospital so they work in tandem, resident or fellow goes to PACU with the last patient, attending goes to see the next patient.

*variation on the first one, they actually brought the patient back to the OR and you haven't seen them yet, haven't checked the paperworks or they brought the patient, you've seen them BUT you are just about to open the OR pack with the tech.

* another variation, you are in an ENT room cruising along with BMT's and T&A's with like 5-10 min turnovers and then you have a FESS or a Tympanomastoidectomy next and the anesthesiologist don't seem to understand why you need more time to set up!

Okay ,enough with the Anesthesiology bashing :), I do love 'em and those that work with me enough knows not to do these type of nonsense.

* a surprise not indicated on the schedule, you go see the patient after you've set up the room for an open case and the consent says Laparoscopic. Then you run back to the room, call for the laparoscopy cart and grab the video monitor etc.

* a multi specialty procedure with about 4-6 surgeons and the pagers are going off non stop. :banghead:

* a surgeon, the moment the pager goes off---what is it? who is paging me? then you relay the info from the floor nurse paging and the surgeon goes into a tirade about why he was paged in the first place for something so trivial.... lol...

* a tech who asks for sutures one at a time...sometimes this is from inexperience so I try not to be grumpy. I'm not a lazy circulator by any means but it would help if you look how big your incision is and you know you are gonna need more than 1 suture so I can go on with the rest of my circulating tasks.

* a break person who immediately writes their time in when they see you while you are still giving them report. Do you ever have Break Nazis in your OR? Not a minute late or you get a page or a lecture.

* a charge nurse who forgets to assign another nurse to relieve you at the end of your shift or who just expects you to finish your case and does not tell you that there was no one else available. (happened in some traveling assignments I had).

That's all I can think of now. Please share yours.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Pretty much everything you listed applies to my pet peeves. The not being relieved one really got to me. This happened to me early this week-we have a mandatory overtime law in my state, and if I were to mandate someone, I'd get in trouble. The charge on 11-7 didn't want to call the call people in to relieve me because she is overly concerned when people get mad with her, so she comes in and tell me she has no relief for me. I then told her that I would count this as a mandation.(there's a form we fill out and give to the union-the hospital has to pay $300 per mandation) Long story short, I got relieved but then she made me out to be the bad guy. :argue:She didn't tell my boss that she didn't want to call the call people(of course). When I explained my side, it got cleared up. This leads to one of my pet peeves. Namely, that different rules seem to apply to different shifts, which is bullcrap, IMO.

I've found a way around the fetching one suture at a time-when they ask for one, I open two. Obviously, I eyeball the incision myself first. I was a tech before, so I'm usually a pretty good judge of amounts.

I hate when techs kiss the surgeons fanny because he/she may be a tool and they want to make themselves look good, even if the surgeon is way out of line.

People that are so concerned with following policy that their judgement and common sense flies out the window. Obviously, some things you can't play around with(sterility, counts) but some people make up really stupid rules. For example, we can't wear lanyards in our OR, because it causes "belly gazing" HUH??! :banghead: Great, so let me pin my badge at chest level so people are gazing at my boobs instead. When I wore a lanyard, I would just tuck it into my pocket while opening sterile supplies. Everyone did this so it's not a sterilty issue. Some paper pushing bozo just got a hair across their butt about lanyards for some stupid reason.

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Specializes in OR.

Med students and residents who don't introduce themselves or write their name on the board. They then proceed to scrub and look shocked and annoyed when you don't magically produce their gloves from the field.

Free people who think their one and only job is to provide breaks and lunch. How about giving a hand turning over rooms, making rounds to see what we need, throwing scopes in the steris, pulling extras for our cases instead of sitting on your butt at the desk? And these same underachievers are the free people almost all of the time :banghead:

Patients who make it all the way to the holding area without consents, power of attorneys, ucgs/hcgs, etc...

I could think of so many more....

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Specializes in OR.

One more:

Surgeons who are completely annoyed by the concept of a time out. Get. over. it. It has to be done, why fight it? And secondary to that, the nurses who let them get away with it by stating the patient's name, procedure, and site/side for them.

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

Actually I don't consider these pet peeves just everyday occurences that we mostly have to live with. It is so funny no matter what part of the country you work in the same crazy stuff happens all the time. The ability to ignore or just have selective hearing keeps everything thing in compliance.

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Specializes in Med-Surg;Rehab;Gerontology; Now OR.
One more:

Surgeons who are completely annoyed by the concept of a time out. Get. over. it. It has to be done, why fight it? And secondary to that, the nurses who let them get away with it by stating the patient's name, procedure, and site/side for them.

The surgeons at our OR are really good with our time outs...everyone really stops and one grabs the ID bracelet, one has the consent and the anesthesiologist gets the boarding pass, one checks if the site is marked.

:yeah:

One time, a surgeon appeared pre-occupied so when I said this is so and so, Medical Record, DOB and we are doing an ORIF (it was actually a neurosurgery case and I just tested if he was listening, and of course he jumped and corrected me, laughing.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Operating Room.

You and Whitchy RN and I must be triplettes. Thanks you 2 have made my night. I now know it's not just me.

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

My biggest pet peeve is surgeons who after a case sit down and watch as the nursing staff clean up the mess. Most of them don't even offer to help out, I wish they'd just go and have a coffee and leave us be. Then they proceed to criticise us for taking too long between cases (our average turnaround time is 10 minutes which isn't too bad). But what really makes my blood boil is when they start pestering us 'is someone bringing the patient in?' when there is still blood all over the floor :banghead: .

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Pet peeves: call these personal

Opening a case for me and not asking what should and should not be opened.

People who don't take responsability for their mistakes (Especially while I'm getting the blame).

The 3pm shift workers. This is the nurse/tech who slows case turnover, or increases case time being illprepared with the knowledge that no matter what they're relieved at 3pm (and I'm usually either relieving them, or getting their add on case because I've busted orifice in my room)

Nervous whistling or humming talking. This is especially pertainent while I'm working with one of the primadonas and the Surgoen gives me the eye because the Scrub or Nurse (whatever the case) can't be quiet.

Here's a good one and I dont' know if I'd call it a pet peeve but:

Walking out of your room towards the core and totally forgetting what you went for. The only way to remedy this temporary amnesia is to enter the room like an idiot and leave having immediately remembered what you forgot.

This is super personal, though not really a pet peeve more of a preference: Playing the radio during cases. I'm a musician at night and weekends and music is super distracting to me. I find some genres really affect me more than others.

I didn't write much about Surgeons or Anesthesiologist. Mostly because I'd consider those subjects generally more serious than pet peeves.

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Specializes in surgical, emergency.

I agree with Shadobe, I'm not sure they're Pet Peeves, but what you all have posted, are things that get me going!

I find it funny how, large OR or small, California to N.Y. we all have similar problems.

Here's a few of mine:

Surgeons who feel that "paperwork", you know H&P's and consents,,,,are not their job!!

Not all but a few feel that it's the patient's "medical guy" that should do the H&P, and giving the permit to the nurse to have the patient sign, is good enough.

I've seen pts come down with no note at all on the chart from the surgeon, on why this pt is having surgery!!!!!

One time, I had it out with a surgeon, who disagreed with the rules.....holding my tongue (some), I told him, if he didn't like the rules, get out of bed earlier on Monday's and go to Medical Executive meetings, and change it!!!!! Until then....here's a pen!!!

:banghead:

And I hate...."oh, by the way". Things not posted, that everyone else in the world seemed to know about, except the crew that's doing the case!!!

And while we're at it,,docs, can we find some sort of trade off on OR time vs Office time?

I know your office is important, but booking cases after hours, just so you can finish office gets old real fast, especially if we have to sit around for you for a couple hours! And don't think we don't know what you're doing.....I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night!!!

Anesthesiologists,,,,love 'em, love what they have taught me over the years....sometimes I think the only one person on the OR team that sees the entire picture. That said, like another post, sometimes, like surgeons, I think these guys forget the concepts of time and space. You just don't turn over from a total knee to an arthroscopy in 5 minutes!!!!! I'll do the best I can, but come on!!!!!

Scub Techs. Again, love 'em,,,,,my best friend in the OR. I like them to know I have their back, and they mine. I understand the one suture at a time thing. At our hospital, we try hard to control costs, and not open things unless we absolutely have to, so I understand. That said however, a skin stapler!!!! Come on, I'm not sure some docs know how to do skin sutures anymore!! Open the stapler,,,ok??

Emergency Room

Gang,,,,I know you all are getting slammed! Been there....done that.

However, if you are working up a possible Appy and it's coming on end of shift. Could someone find 60 seconds, call the OR, and tell us to check before we leave!!??

I find it really troubling when as I pull into my driveway, my wife is waving me off like some errant fighter plane trying to make an aircraft carrier landing!!!

This to go right back to the OR for an appy that's been in ER for the past 3 hours.

Sorry,,,,got a little carried away there.

Mike

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Specializes in CST in general surgery, LDRs, & podiatry.
my biggest pet peeve is surgeons who after a case sit down and watch as the nursing staff clean up the mess. most of them don't even offer to help out, i wish they'd just go and have a coffee and leave us be. then they proceed to criticise us for taking too long between cases (our average turnaround time is 10 minutes which isn't too bad). but what really makes my blood boil is when they start pestering us 'is someone bringing the patient in?' when there is still blood all over the floor :banghead: .

i had a surgeon be extra "antsy" one day about getting his cases turned around, and we were working at tip-top speed with an or orderly to help with the process. he was standing at the door, tapping his foot, and watching us do the work, so i went out the door and grabbed the mop bucket. i wheeled it back to the room, ran the mop through the squeezer and handed it to him. he looked a little taken aback when i said "if you want it done any faster, you're gonna have to help." but - he took it like a good sport and actually came in the room and mopped it! he had already seen his next patient when he saw the previous one, so he had little else to do at the time. but - from then on, he left us alone, especially when he saw me scrubbing his room, because he knew i'm not shy and won't hesitate to put him to work! that was fun! :yeah:

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As a post op nurse, my biggest pet peeve is the rush for room turnover taking precedence over everything else- esp. patients!!! I'm talking about patients coming to PACU w/wet betadine on the linens, not putting peri pads on D&Cs & C-sections, telling us "oh he/she was incontinent after we moved them" leaving US to clean up the mess, & not giving a full detailed report (ie forgetting to mention the pt has vag pkg in or that there's a foley in, they vomited/bled & you forget to tell us you flipped the pillow so we stick our hands in it-- etc. etc. to name a few) leaving specimens in the PACU-- sloppy sloppy -- all b/c of the RUSH to turnover the room to keep the almighty SURGEON happy!! It doesn't happen all the time, but once you start cutting corners it becomes habit. :twocents:

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