Probably a dumb question from a nursing student

Published

Hi! I'm a nursing student currently doing my final focus in the OR. I have been there about two months now and have so far been only in Ortho, mostly doing total hips and knees, much to the chagrin of many physicians. It's a very steep learning curve and I feel like a fool often, but I'm beginning to get the hang of things. My question however pertains to getting fat and blood on my gloves, which makes them super slippery, which causes me to take a second to pick up the instruments, which adds to the glares i get by the people who are not happy about having a student in ortho. Does anyone have a trick for decreasing the slipperiness of my gloves? I try to clean them off but once the fat gets on them it takes awhile to get it off. I did warn you this might be a stupid question! Any advice would be very appreciated. Thank you for your time.

C.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/surg, rural CCU.

You're a nursing student and allowed near instruments in the OR? We just stayed out of the way- never got near anything in our OR rotation.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Operating Theatre and Occ. Health.

Welcome to Ortho! Fat, especially in TKRs, is a fact of life! In 50 yrs I never found anything that would eliminate it! You just get used to it over time.

You might be misreading their looks. Remember they are having the same problem too!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

It is not a dumb question at all, but a very insightful question. I have found that the gloves that you wear make a huge difference. I wear Biogels underneath and Microptics on top. (I am assuming that you double glove.) Microptics tend to make grabbing instruments easier, even with fat on them. Another trick that I have learned is to put Castile Soap in my water. I have the circulating nurse pour 2 liters of sterile water in my bowl on the back table (or ring stand) and add an ounce of Castile Soap. This helps tremendously. I then soak a lap in the water and use this to wipe off the bone and fat from my hands. It also helps when cleaning off the reamers.

Hope this helps!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

Wow you're doing total hips and knees as a nursing student? When I was a student nurse in the OR I was lucky enough to scrub for removal of teeth! That's pretty awesome:yeah:

And it's not a stupid question at all. If your gloves are slippery then you are at risk of sharps injury to yourself or others.

I don't do ortho (not a big fan of power tools!) but in my specialty I also have the problem of getting greasy gloves. I usually just wash my hand and any greasy instruments in a bowl of sterile water and wipe them with a lap sponge. It gets rid of most of it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I keep a moist towel on my back table just for my hands.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PACU, Surgery, Acute Medicine.

This question makes me really glad that I work in eyes. :-)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR.

The chagrin of the physicians is understandable...Legally a nursing student should only be in the OR to observe NOT to scrub in and hand instruments...The patients have the right to not have underqualified personnel working on them..I question the legality of you engaging in these surgeries and as an OR RN I would never allow a nursing student to be placed in that position of possible liability!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PeriOperative.
The chagrin of the physicians is understandable...Legally a nursing student should only be in the OR to observe NOT to scrub in and hand instruments...The patients have the right to not have underqualified personnel working on them..I question the legality of you engaging in these surgeries and as an OR RN I would never allow a nursing student to be placed in that position of possible liability!

Does your state require a license to pass instruments? Mine doesn't even require certification. A surgeon can legally pull a person off of the street and have them scrub.

Learning to scrub surgeries used to be part of nursing school. There is no need to discourage studtents from going into the OR. Nursing schools are already doing a great job on their own.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OR.

Yes the state I am in requires a certification in order to pass surgical instruments. If a person is not an RN they are a CST (certified scrub tech) It is a patient liability issue not a student nursing issue. I am not discouraging just surprised that a patient would be exposed to a potential danger-usually the patient MUST sign a student waver in case something were to happen. Students are not liscenced to do anything other than observe, that is why they are students and not certified RN's yet! Anything that a student does (wrong or not) is under the liscence of the RN or the Doctor and they will be held accountable IF (and that is an IF) anything were to happen. And No a surgeon cannot legally pull anyone off the street and have them scrub...there are hospital policies that require certification for people to even be in the OR.

Does your state require a license to pass instruments? Mine doesn't even require certification. A surgeon can legally pull a person off of the street and have them scrub.

Learning to scrub surgeries used to be part of nursing school. There is no need to discourage studtents from going into the OR. Nursing schools are already doing a great job on their own.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
Students are not liscenced to do anything other than observe....

This statement is not correct. Students are not licensed, period! They practice under the direct supervision and direction of clinical nursing instructors, clinical nursing preceptors, advanced practice nurses or licensed licensed physicians. This poster is no exception, I'm sure. She stated that she scrubs for surgeries. She never said that she does so alone, without a consulting professional available to her, including the surgeon. I applaud the OP's nursing education program and clinical site for providing a truly comprehensive education, instead of limiting nursing students to caring for adult med/surg patients, then "experiencing" specialty areas for a few hours as an "observer".

Based upon your logic, a nursing student would graduate without ever having laid hands on a patient. If that is the case in your area, I would be terribly concerned about the quality of education and fitness for practice of your new nurses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PeriOperative.
Yes the state I am in requires a certification in order to pass surgical instruments. If a person is not an RN they are a CST (certified scrub tech) It is a patient liability issue not a student nursing issue. I am not discouraging just surprised that a patient would be exposed to a potential danger-usually the patient MUST sign a student waver in case something were to happen. Students are not liscenced to do anything other than observe, that is why they are students and not certified RN's yet! Anything that a student does (wrong or not) is under the liscence of the RN or the Doctor and they will be held accountable IF (and that is an IF) anything were to happen. And No a surgeon cannot legally pull anyone off the street and have them scrub...there are hospital policies that require certification for people to even be in the OR.

So I assume you don't have student scrub techs in your OR.

In teaching hospitals, having students provide care is part of the package. Medical students, residents, nursing students, and scrub tech students. Patients do not sign student waivers. They don't sign a waiver when they see a med student in clinic, when a nursing student places an IV on the floor, or when a scrub tech student passes instruments in surgery. Nursing students do much more than observe on the floors and in units...that is how they learn. The same is true of scrub tech students.

I just want to reiterate that in my state, yes, the surgeon can have anyone scrub and even assist. I know of two whose wives (with no medical training whatsoever) assist them in the OR. Doesn't mean it's right, just legal.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion