maryBSN2005

I know what you mean, we have a couple of surgeons like that. I am lucky that I am able to scrub pretty much any case that comes through the door, but I feel awful for those who are just off orientation, working their first weekend alone, and end up with one of those guys. It is really unfair and doesn't do much for retention or moral. I think your right in taking it as far as you have. Just stick to your guns, and your fellow nurses, especially the new ones, will appreciate it later. One of our managers has been known to tell a couple of these jerks that if they want the same staff all the time, they can hire their own.

Having been an ST for almost 15 years, I don't think that OJT for scrub techs is fair or good for the patients or the hospital ( except maybe their budgets). I spent two years getting my training and have an Associates degree in Surgical Technology. The hospital where I have been employed for almost 11 years did the same thing for many years. Some the STs that have 20 years or more were trained off the street. The hospital now requires ST's to have had proper schooling and requires certification within one year of employment.

I also graduate in May, on the 14th!! Can't wait!!! :balloons: :rotfl: QUOTE=RNinMay2005]i am a student nurse, too. (see signature). i have met many more helpful, friendly nurses than unwelcoming ones. of course, i remember that the unwelcoming ones were all on the same unit, lol. and, the more you know and the more you can do, the more helpful they are. i am in a great unit! the nurses let you do everything for the patients, answer your questions, talk to you, offer you chances to do things, dont make you feel dumb when you get something wrong. if you are shadowing them for the day they talk to you, ask you questions to make sure you understand, etc. they don't really act like you are in the way at all. i also did a 12 week adopt a student nurse externship thing this summer, and in one unit, the nurses were great-all of them. the other unit i went to, most of the nurses were great, but there were a few who were a bit rude. although i am in a RN program, one told me that her LPN program was so hard that she knows i would have had a hard time. hello? how do you know? but from a student nurse perspective, i dont really notice if the nurse doesn't wash her hands leaving the room or anything like that. I am fully aware that real life is different from nursing school.(esp after my externship this summer). i am more concerned about myself and what im doing then whether or not someone is doing something "wrong". and we students dont gossip about unhelpful nurses, prob cuz they are all good up on my unit. we talk about how nice they are love, rose

Thanks, great reply. This is the kind of reply I am looking for.

I am hoping that my future-fellow nurses will help me out here. I am writing a persuasive paper for my leadership class and want to persuade people that OR nurses should be trained to scrub. That it should be included in their orientation to the OR. The OR that I have been as an ST for the past 12 years does not include much, if any, scrubbing. The nurses may get one or two days and that is all. What I am looking for are your comments and opinions about why you, as a circulating nurse believe you should or should not be trained to scrub. Please also let me know if you are CNOR. Thank you from a future OR nurse!! :balloons: I appreciate so many great replies, but lets try not to slam the surg tech shall we? I have been a scrub tech for 15 years total, I have an associates degree, not a 9 month certificate. I am a Level III scrub tech. (We have a competency leveling system that determines the what we are able to do in the OR and also puts us at a higher pay scale.) I am a Laser Officer, I have been through a course in wound closure offered by our surgeons and the suture company. I serve as a preceptor for tech sturdents and new employees. When a new RN comes off orientation they always assign us together to help the room operate smoothly. The days that I am not assigned to scrub in a room, I will help with turnovers and starting cases. My RN's appreciate that I take the initiative to help position the patient, offer to do the prep, plug in equipment as the case gets started, etc. I could go on but won't. So let's remember the question and not slam the tech. Thanks. By the way it will be my many years of scrubbing that will make me an awesome OR nurse.