lozstar

I am responsible for teaching a new nurse to scrub, gown and glove. Last week I gave the new nurse the hospital policy on scrubbing, gowning and gloving and also asked her to read the section on this in a perioperative textbook which we have at work. Today we went through actually how to do it. I got her to do it with me (along side me) while I was teaching her. Is this how you learnt to scrub, gown and glove or did you learn another way? I would love to hear from you.

Hi everyone I would love to hear about how you orientate new nurses to your departments. For instance, is there a certain structure that you follow? Do you have a checklist that you use? I have orientated a couple of nurses before but I have never had time to sit down and really plan anything. I would really like to do this and would love some input. I have the an orientation department booklet to give them, competencies and a physical department checklist for the new hire to complete (sort of like a seek and find thing). Looking forward to hearing from you, Lauren

As mentioned before by other people before there are distinct roles in the operating room - the scout nurse, scrub nurse and anaesthetic nurse. Depending on where you work some of these roles may overlap. For instance, as the scout nurse sometimes I do the pre-op checklist for the patient prior to them coming into the operating room which in many other hospitals where I have worked this is primarily the responsibility of the anaesthetic nurse. However, the most important role of a nurse in the operating room is to ensure the patient's advocacy. Personally, I love the operating room because everyday is different, I love the team atmosphere and only looking after one patient at a time!

That is interesting CIRQL8 what you have said about calling in a second on-call team. So does that mean you have two on-call teams on all the time? How many staff do you have working in your OR? Our OR is not overly big as we only service one speciality so there is about 12 of us that do call this is for scout, scrub and anaesthetics. Ilovethe80s I know exactly what you are saying about feeling like a zombie!! It can be dangerous and I know at times I am just way beyond tired! And like Ilovethe80s and Sweet_Wild_Rose mentioned my boss tries to get us home early but sometimes it's just not feasible and it always comes down to "its part of the job". Anyway its good to hear about some things happening out there.

Hi everyone I have been an operating room nurse for nearly eight years. I really enjoy what I do but I have had dreadful call ins over the last month. Over one weekend I worked an extra 20 hours on top of my normal 40 hours. Last night I worked all night so was up for 20 hours without sleep... then went home and had two hours sleep, and had to wake up to return to work but luckily my boss said stay home. Anyway, when I get this tired and have been working crazy hours I find myself asking "why do we do it?". I know why I went into nursing to help people etc but I do find the call ins take its toll physically. Sometimes if I have had a really rough night or last few days with call ins I get to the point where I feel like I could break down and cry. This morning I really felt like I couldn't concentrate at all so was so grateful I didn't have to work. I know some people will probably say I should give up the call ins and as much as they are a burden sometimes I still love the rush of adrenaline you get from being involved in an emergency case. What's everyone's experience with call ins in the operating room? Do you get worn out with on-call? How long have you been doing it? I'd be interested to hear from you.