Things may seem quite technical, but it is considered patient care. Everything in that room revolves around the patient, who is usually unconscious. We are the eyes, ears, and advocate for that patient, regardless of how much "care" you may or may not have seen. Most of our work is done behind the scenes.
When you get another opportunity to observe, pay special attention to the patient interview, the assessment, the chart review, etc etc... As OR nurses, we have honed our assessment skills. We have to. We have so little time with our patients while they are awake & they are literally putting their lives in our hands. We don't have time to review the chart at a whim. It needs to be done before that patient rolls back to surgery.
What you perceive to be a a lack of care, is actually a very well planned and orchestrated nurse - patient encounter.
If you are talking about things like foleys, iv's... you probably just observed some really short cases. We don't routinely insert a foley for a 1 hr surgery.... that's reserved for longer cases, total joint cases, or trauma patients (just a few examples & not an all-inclusive list.) Of course, things vary from case-case, or surgeon preference...IV's are usually by anesthesia...
Look a bit harder & you'll see what you missed...
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