Kingbandit

What is the AORN & JAHCO's position on multiple rooms? Our management has allowed a surgeon to have 3 rooms, cause he's fast and had a lot of cases. I requested a different assignment, I didn't want my lisence to be at risk.

You may have seen hundreds of people die before, but when its a patient under your care you feel like screaming. You have so many emotions, I for one kept replaying the code over and over trying to find my mistakes. I didn't nor did anyone else, you just can't fix dead hearts. No code is fun, but new nurses should be at least observing if not participating in the code. Any experience is good experience. I feel we all have a time to go, I just don't want mine happening around well trained nurses, we're just to good nowadays.

I have a unique perspective, twas a scrub tech for 10yrs, then a RN for 6yrs. The education for surgical tech was 1 1/2 years at a community college. I graduated with an associates degree. The core curriculum was all about instruments and how they interact with different tissue. Our pharmacology was very basic, locals, antibiotics, heparin. We took anatomy where we dissected a cat. Most of our education is through 360hrs of clinical experience.I've known many people who work their whole career who work as techs. They start around $16/hr and max $25/hr. In my state the ADN & BSN are considered equal. I have both. Neither degree had any formal training for the OR. The most you could hope for is a day of observation. As you know, nurses start around $24/hr. Most stub rns are former techs or trained on the job. Most RN's who scrub work in orthoor open heart. Hospitals like the rn in these services because they can staff a room with 3 rns and have it covered all day without needing to send any other staff for breaks/lunch. Our open heart team use nurses exclusively.

The OR nurse must be able to recognize the possible/real injuries, and have all instruments ready. You will learn assessment skills, as well as circulating skills. The trauma nurse should get their ACLS certification if they want to transport trauma pt's. If you scrub, traumas will teach you how to set up a case quickly. Most trauma centers love OR nurses who can circulate and scrub.

Thanks, I have been there 10 wks and I feel comfortable enough to move to off shift training. Each one of my service preceptor's have signed off, but the manager is making me stay in orientation for 6months. I just want to move on and be productive. The charge nurse uses me to relieve for lunches without a preceptor. I had to act contrite today during a trauma because the preceptor was new and she tried but I had to do most of the case, but I wanted a good review. I was a surg tech for 10yrs an ER rn for 6yrs, I can't count how many traumas I've done.

Which services are new nurses oriented to in your facility? How long is the typical orientation? Does your facility orient to other shifts (evening, nights, weekends)? Are services/teams chosen or do new nurses get to pick. Are your teams picky about who they let in (hearts, eyes, robot)?

I'm sure by now you have heard the old "go do med-surg first" I love the OR because: 1) Drs love teaching for the most part 2) You get to see some pretty cool things 3) Awesome stories 4) usually you get to work with a certain service/team 5) You can make a boatload of $$ if you take call all the time 6) scrubs are provided 7) wide variety of shifts 8) NOONE dies in the OR (old joke, used to do cpr until pt in ICU)

I started my healthcare career as a nurses assistant. I then graduated as a surgical tech. I held this role for 10 years. I spent 6 years in the ER and was looking for a change. I knew the pace, cases,doctors,staff, & management. If I had gone anywhere else it would not have felt as right as my return has felt. My skills as both a with tech (cases, instruments), and ER (assessment, ACLS) have made a great fit for the OR.

When I first started, I was quizzes not only about dosage calcs, but also drugs themselves. Like mechanism of action for beta-blockers, nitro. Reversals of opiates-arcane, denzos-flumazicon. Side effects of certain meds like calcium channel blockers-angioedema. Most tests are assessments of what you need to learn. Simply ask if you should cram or take it blind and truely assess your weaknesses.

Thanks, I wish staff had more support in protecting our pts right/health, but drs say I'll take my cases elsewhere and management backs down. It happens anytime we have staff vs Dr, we lose.

Our hospital uses the universal protocol time outs. We still have several drs who treat it as staffs delaying cases, others get upset to just turn down the music or anesthesiologist who won't hang up the phone to verify the information from the wrist band. Does anyone else have these issues? How do you/your hospital deal with this? Does any one use 2 time-out pre-prep, pre-cut?

I agree with caliotter I start with Dr then, if they say call me "Pete" I will drop the Dr. I find it difficult when they become staff, to go back to Dr though. But I'm working on it.

usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-16-nurse-doctors_N.htm Cut and paste the link above. YES Today published a piece about the healthcare reform bill might lead to an expansion of advanced degree nurses role in caring for the millions of soon to be insured. The article talks about the obvious push-back they face from physicians. I'm all for nurse getting the respect they are deserved. Physicians have historically looked down on PhD nurses as just nurses, but they have put in just as much if not more, in the classroom. Plus they are trained to look at. a patient as whole and not just treat the symptoms.

Recently our OR started pushing our Dr's to use Chloraprep. Last week one of our ortho Dr's demanded the nurse prep an open femur fracture. His reasoning was that he had reformed a pre-scrub with a chlohexidine scrub brush. The nurse refused and he proceeded to prep himself. Afterward, th Dr wrote up the rn she has not heard back from management yet but she's afraid she'll get in trouble. Everyone that has heard the story backs her because the manufacurers instructions state not to use on mucous membranes, eyes, ears, or open wounds. What are your thoughts?

Our management is making it a requirement to transport its to/from ICU or ER. My take is I'll go to any class that they will pay for.