I shadowed in the OR for the first time today. I had eaten breakfast (Oatmeal and Coffee), woke up ready to go, and was standing next to the CRNA, standing up on my toes at times in the FREEZING room to observe the parathyroid surgery that was taking place. They began to cauterize the tissue, and I thought it was awesome! I kept trying to get a better look, but before I knew it, I began feeling nauseous, and passed out right there. So embarassed, I sat up after a minute of being helped by the CRNA, then proceded to sit in a chair as they wrapped up the procedure and finished watching the sutures being placed. I finished the day watching a podiatrist do a bunion removal and tendon repair, and went home.
Am I doomed to be a nurse?? Does this mean I can't hack it?? I am wanting to be an RN--I really enjoyed watching everyone, and was not grossed out by the procedures- but am thinking it was due to my locked knees, standing in one spot, and the newness of it all?? I feel horrible- if anyone has had any similar experience or advice, please let me know. Thank you.
I was super excited to rotate into the OR last monday at clincials. Let me tell you... TOTALLY different than any area I've been in, althought I don't think I'd want to do OR nursing. Seems kinda boring =\
I wasn't used to the mask, and I think it made me stuffed up and congested. They told me that sometimes people are allergic to the materials the masks are made out of, so maybe it was that. It was either freezing cold or burning up in the OR, more often than not extremely hot to me. (Im hot natured) And also the smell when they use the cauterizing. Reminded me of the smell when my teeth get drilled. No bueno, but I can deal with it.
It had to be you leaning up to get a better look, taking all the new senses in, and locking your knees. I've been in the army since I was 17, and im 24 now, almost 25, and when we had hour and a half ceremonies at Fort benning in the middle of the summer, you'd always see people every 30 minutes or so dropping from formation, lol. No matter how many times you tell teenage soldiers NOT to lock their knees, they do Kinda funny after a while. One time during a 2 and a half hour post wide ceremony (ick) we kept talley marks on our hands from the people passing out.
Its ok. You'll still be a great nurse. Don't give it a second thought
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
This thread has me cracking up. I don't know why but I was crying I was laughing so hard, especially the post about someone saying it happens every semester. I have a history of passing out, I guess maybe that i why I can see the humor in it. Once I passed out three time in a row at the gas station and was attempting to get a fountain drink and apparently kept hitting the same area of my head on the corner of the metal counter, I was pregnant and the third time I awoke in the ambulance. Happened when I was 10 at the top of a water slide ride, thankfully it was right before I went to go down.
Almost happened when I was standing in my sisters wedding, why she needed an hour long ceremony is beyond me LOL. Now I can tell when it's going to happen and can usually sit or lay down before it' to late, sometimes I misjudge how much time I have left though and can't make it to a safe spot in time. It's nice to hear if it happens to me when I am a RN I won't be alone I am glad you are ok. :)
When I did OR clinicals, and again when I was doing my first assist in a renal txplant, the regular OR staff all told me if I felt nauseous or faint, to say so and step away.
Obviously, they have the fainting reaction often enough to mention it to everyone new to the OR. So, don't sweat it. :wink2:
O.R. is a very different enviornment- It's cold, it's bright, you are breathing through a mask- I'm sure you are more hypercapnic than you are used to, the level of tension- esp for an observer/student is astounding. I think the caloric burn for students in O.R. must be close to that of a marathon runner- and all you are doing is watching! Don't give it another thought- at least one or two students each semester hit the floor- the only ones I've ever heard of being is some sort of trouble are the ones that broke the sterile field. You didn't puke into the patient, you didn't collapse across the instruments,(others have). You missed a little bit of you OR observation is all- no harm no foul.
The first time I scrubbed for a procedure I ended up on the floor passed out and feeling very much the same as you do. I kept at it and I've been in the OR for 3 years now and I scrub and circulate. I used to feel really claustrophobic wearing a mask and having the gown and gloves on. Now it's second nature to me. If you really keen on the OR my advice is to keep trying because from my experience you get used to it.
Don't feel bad. I came very close to passing out in the OR. I think it was because I wasn't used to having a mask on my face for so long. I started hyperventilating a little and everything turned white. It only happened one other time when I had to be in a mask for almost an hour. I guess I have to learn how to breathe better with a mask on.
This happened to me too. There wasn't even a patient in the room yet, but I stood there for so long-probably an hour while they were setting up. I felt like the air I was breathing was to thin or something and started to see my peripheral vision fade to black and new I was going to pass out. I just stepped out of the room and took the mask off for a minute and sat down. I was still embarrassed because there wasn't even a patient in the room yet and I almost passed out! How pathetic.lol. Anyway I was fine watching the procedure, but continued to feel a little light headed. They said it happens all the time!
There are a lot of factors that can go into syncope. I'm a pacu nurse and I've seen and assisted on a lot, including an emergency neck decompression for a post thyroidectomy hemorrhage. The only time I've felt queasy was when my wife needed a blood patch. I was holding her shoulders while the anesthesiologist established lumbar access and darn near passed out. My wife thought I was just holding her shoulders securely but truth be known, if I hadn't been holding on I would have hit the floor. I had to look away and try to put the procedure out of my mind to put the starch back in my legs.
I used to pass out as a student frequently. It wasn't so much what I was seeing that bothered me as much as standing still in one place for a long period of time. I found that moving, in as much as I was able to, helped a lot.
Passed out as a CNA (new) helping an RN put a foley in an elderly woman with the curtains pulled all around the bed. They took me to the ER and my parents had to pick me up. Been a nurse over 20 years now and never have gotten close to passing out since.
We were instructed that, should we feel faint, we should back up, stand against the wall, and carefully slide down to the floor. It never came to that point for me, but I was scared it might. Some hospitals in the area have banned nursing students from their ORs--supposedly they had one who passed out and fell into the operative field. Try explaining THAT to the patient afterward!
I fainted as a student waiting for the pt. to get electric shock therapy, while they were putting in the IV! I got right up and was able to see the procedure. The first time I scrubbed on a C Section, when I took my mask off I almost fainted. Turns out I was pregnant, another time during a lady partsl delivery, I almost fainted again, I had to leave the room. Turns out I was pregnant again. My best bet is to stay out of labor and delivery. I keep getting pregnant. lol
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I fainted as a student waiting for the pt. to get electric shock therapy, while they were putting in the IV! I got right up and was able to see the procedure. The first time I scrubbed on a C Section, when I took my mask off I almost fainted. Turns out I was pregnant, another time during a lady partsl delivery, I almost fainted again, I had to leave the room. Turns out I was pregnant again. My best bet is to stay out of labor and delivery. I keep getting pregnant. lol
I had attended many births of friends by their request and one time when I was pregnant myself the smell of the amniotic fluid when her water was broken was so overwhelming. I had never noticed it any other time but that time. I almost couldn't go back in their until they emptied the bin with all the wet stuff. It was normal fluid also. I also attended the closing up from a C Section and the friend had her tubes cauterized as well, her husband left with the baby and she wanted someone in their with her after. That smell is something else as well, it didn't bother me and I was all about watching but different. I have a very keen sense of smell as it is but I will never forget how bad it was when I was pregnant and my friends sac was ruptured.
So embarassed, I sat up after a minute of being helped by the CRNA, then proceded to sit in a chair as they wrapped up the procedure and finished watching the sutures being placed. I finished the day watching a podiatrist do a bunion removal and tendon repair, and went home..thumb.jpg.5aa4d55557c0228e31b94de19666bbbb.jpg){kind=small}
I am glad you are ok. :)
jollydogg_RN, ADN, BSN
333 Posts
I was super excited to rotate into the OR last monday at clincials. Let me tell you... TOTALLY different than any area I've been in, althought I don't think I'd want to do OR nursing. Seems kinda boring =\
I wasn't used to the mask, and I think it made me stuffed up and congested. They told me that sometimes people are allergic to the materials the masks are made out of, so maybe it was that. It was either freezing cold or burning up in the OR, more often than not extremely hot to me. (Im hot natured) And also the smell when they use the cauterizing. Reminded me of the smell when my teeth get drilled. No bueno, but I can deal with it.
It had to be you leaning up to get a better look, taking all the new senses in, and locking your knees. I've been in the army since I was 17, and im 24 now, almost 25, and when we had hour and a half ceremonies at Fort benning in the middle of the summer, you'd always see people every 30 minutes or so dropping from formation, lol. No matter how many times you tell teenage soldiers NOT to lock their knees, they do
Kinda funny after a while. One time during a 2 and a half hour post wide ceremony (ick) we kept talley marks on our hands from the people passing out.
Its ok. You'll still be a great nurse. Don't give it a second thought