MsLeylaBar

There is a book called Instrumentation for the Operating Room by Shirley Brooks Tighe. It has a lot of pictures of the instruments. If you know anyone in the sterile processing department, they also have a lot of instrument catalogs there, and usually a new one comes out yearly so maybe they could give you the old one.

I've worked in both teaching and private hospitals and yes, I really prefer the teaching ones because there are plenty of help. Wherever you work, please don't compromise the patient's safety. I would usually ask my surgical tech to either get the stretcher or stay at the patient's bedside while I get the stretcher or bed. Patient safety is way more important than fast turnovers and if management doesn't recognize that then you are working in the wrong place. I've worked in a private OR too where turn overs were 5-15 minutes but then everyone who were free came to help clean and turn over the room as soon as you get the stretcher in so there were plenty of help for patient transfer. Can you talk to your manager about your concerns?

Here's a few threads about this- https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/lose-nursing-skills-340492.html https://allnurses.com/canadian-nurses/need-advice-662985.html https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/fulltime-prn-elsewhere-660895.html

There are no openings in the OR in your area? In my opinion, it's really okay to go into the OR right away and not waste your time in other specialties. If you wish to do other specialties first, it really doesn't matter which.

I don't know if your courses will be credited. Why don't you contact the community colleges around Seattle and ask. Getting into nursing school here is very competitive so you might not get in right away. In the mean time, check which ones are credited and which prereqs do you need to take again.

The hospital will have to invest in supplying all kinds of bins. A green committee was established in our OR probably 2 years ago and these people initiated everything from tracking down how much the OR saves while doing this, to doing a trial in 2 OR rooms at a time and then going all out. There's really some serious what we jokingly call "hippie green nazi" people in our OR who reprimands you when you throw something in the wrong bin. Anyway, we all got used to it, your OR rooms will get crowded with so many different kinds of bins. Anything that you get from opening a certain supply to the field that you normally would just throw in the garbage, you have to sort out, anything recyclable you throw in the blue bin. We also have a separate blue bin for any paper that has patient info on it so it goes to the shredder. There also 2 kinds of bins that anesthesia has established to throw vials of medications. I can't remember all medications but anything with Epi, we have to throw it in the black bin. There is also a separate one for just the blue wraps. In the OR lounge, there's a blue bin for recyclables, there's a green bin for stuff that go to compost. It sounds crazy but people get used to it. It becomes second nature.

I work in a pediatric OR so 75% of us nurses, surgeons and techs wear bright colored hats with all kinds of designs. The patients and families love our hats. I know there are some people who don't change their hats on a daily basis but no one is acting as hat police. I'm crazy about hats so I could probably go for 30 days without wearing the same one.

I buy my glasses from here, there's a variety to choose from and they are cheap. http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/anti-fog-safety-glasses.html

I think you made the right decision. It is always a big plus if you know how to circulate or scrub many procedures especially that you are planning to become a travel nurse. That only makes you marketable. Don't worry about leaving a nice comfy job. I know how it is but you got to do what you need to do. And if the new job sucks when it comes to people, environment, just bear it for at least a year. :)

We do timeouts in our facility the way GadgetRN said. The surgeon is responsible for initiating it. Everyone in the room stops and gather around the patient. We actually all introduce ourselves first and state our roles before reading the patient's armband and comparing it to the consent. We are a teaching facility so we always have so many different kinds of students or observers in our OR. We discuss the consent, laterality, look at xray, mark on the patient, what equipment we need, antibiotics needed, anesthesia plans, DVT prophylaxis, where the patient is going after surgery, recovery room or ICU direct etc.

Is that their norm at that hospital? That is certainly going too fast. I would understand if there were just so short of staff that day that they would pull you out of orientation but that is so unfair to you. You deserve many more weeks of orientation.

I wasn't planning on it. I was a nurse manager at an LTC-Rehab Unit and found an ad in the paper from the Level 1 Trauma Center in the city looking for experienced RN's who wanted to try OR nursing. I applied, was one of the 6 who got the job and years later, I am still an OR nurse and will probably be until the end of my nursing career. I had 6 months of training and during those 6 months, I was loving every minute of it. The ability to work 1:1 with a patient is extremely nice. OR is just fun for me. The camaraderie and teamwork shared among OR staff is just awesome. I was also fortunate enough to have a thorough orientation and we were never counted as OR staff until after we finished our 6 months.

Only thing that would help squeaking would be to wear shoe covers. I like fitflops. They are so comfortable. I use the goghs. http://www.soleprovisionsshop.com/Articles.asp?ID=142

"They don't have to wear their patient ID bracelet" Wow, really? That's a safety issue. They are really allowed to get into the OR without it? I used to work in an adult OR but have been doing Peds for about 6 years now. I understand that there are children really fuzzy and doesn't want anything to do with their ID bracelet, but our preop nurses must be very persuasive because not having a patient ID bracelet is a total No-No in our facility. We make it sound fun too. A lot of kids bring their favorite stuffed animal with them to the OR, and on we make sure to have the patient ID bracelet on the stuffed toy and that usually persuades a fuzzy kid to have it on them too, because "Snuggles" didn't mind having it on. It's funny sometimes on kids that are frequent flyers, when it is time to check their bracelet, we usually say it loud, full name, date of birth and medical record number, we find out these kids have even memorized their own medical record numbers. Kind of tragic. Back to the topic, I must admit I miss doing some adult cases like total knees and hips but I don't miss doing any of those gynecologic and prostate procedures. I love peds. Yes, we do get silly at times to help them get to sleep, we sing lullabies, we tell silly jokes, we hold their little hands. I have taken care of a one day old premature baby the size of my palm, as well as the 21 year old who has been coming in to our peds hospital since they have been babies, undergoing numerous procedures. I also find that a lot of pediatric surgeons are just awesome, and I also work a lot with the neurosurgeons who I think are the best. Some new staff who have worked at other hospitals cannot believe they are neurosurgeons, because they are so nice. Haha.

Msancheeze, I PM'd you.