akor

Thanks a million...

Thanks...you anwered my question. That's right,you call them R1 and so on( over here, we call them "specializzando"...I remember the attending surgeon always being there for the case except for the emergencies in the evening where the eldest residents would handle the case. We have two attending general surgeons here, each having their own equip of surgeons and residents. First year residents usually retract for a few months then start tying knots and so on...just like you said...the easy stuff first...Thanks again!

I work in Italy and a surgical resident doc had asked me this question. I used to work at a University hospital in the states a long time ago and don't remember. What year can they be the first operator? Do they have specific duties year by year? Thanks

About 20 yrs ago I started my first nursing job in the OR at a large university hospital. It was an orientation of two yrs with 12 specialty areas. I left nursing for 12 yrs and have returned and am back in the operating room in a foreign country and I had alot of learning to do (always learning ). It is important that you keep alert and attentive to everyone in the OR and what is going on. I am circulating and I try to listen to what the surgeon is saying and keeping attentive to where he is in the surgery to be able to help out the scrub nurse as quickly as possible. Eyes and ears open to the monitors and what the anesthesiologist might need. I have been at this busy caotic job for three yrs now and love it even with ALL the stress that goes along with it. Be thoughtful, polite and humble. If in doubt to what is said always repeat to conferm. In a large hospital, there will be many different personalities and it will be difficult to get along with them all so just do your job in the most careful, attentive and thorough fashion. Remember number one priority is the patient. Good luck!

I hear ya! I am three years now in a busy Level 1 trauma center and was scared to take call. It is very nerve racking but with perseverance and time, you get better. I worked in a busy OR from 88 to 93, then took off 12 years. I entered back into nursing in Italy and because I had OR experience, they put me there. I wanted to go to L&D! I do love the OR. It is SO interesting and I am thankful that most of my colleagues help me out when I need them. However, when I am on- call which is 6 time or more a month, I feel less nervous as time goes by. Good luck...... AKOR

At my facility, we recently met with the organ procurement manager to go over the new paper work to be filled out and faxed back to them at the end of the procedure. However, a nurse brought up the difficulty of being in the room cleaning the corpse after the procedure....The manager rplied that they are working on getting a psychologist to be available to be able to go and talk to if needed. I have been in on an organ harvesting case in the different stages....only once did I clean up the patient and it was o.k. because it happened during the evening when there was help. I think it must be harder at night when you are tired and all the caos is over. I think the more organs gone...the harder as well....we harvest bone as well ....it must be hard to see the corpse in that condition.....

Over here in Florence Italy, they have a great childrens' hospital. I work in the OR but when my son had to have an inguinal hernia operation, I got whoosy watching him go to sleep. I am glad though that i was able to be there with him. It is policy that the parents get to be with the child for induction.

Thanks for the replies. At first arrival, they had these flimsy plastic stools to stand on to see the surgery and to position the light. However, if you fell off and hurt yourself which i heard had happened, you are not covered for your injury because the stool was not in regulation (crazy). Now, they have hefty metal step stools in the OR. These OR lights have a handle bar around half of the perimeter so you don't have to reach into the sterile field and it has a red laser beam so you can see if you are in the right spot...... ciao for now.....

Hi....have another question.....have you ever seen the decision to wake up a patient before the surgery started to do an emergency case? I have seen them wake up an anesthetized scheduled cardiac patient to do an aortic dissection emergency case. thanks for the replies...

Hi everyone, I wanted to know of all you OR nurses who are reading this who have docs demanding that the circulating nurse position the overhead lighting. I worked in the states 20 years ago and don't ever remember doctors asking or YELLING at times for the light. I am working in Italy in a 7 OR suite facility with general, thoracic, cardiac and trauma surgery. It's a pretty up to date hospital. They all demand that the circulating nurse position the light even though there is a sterile handle on the light. Sometimes there is a nice resident who will position for us. Quite frankly i find it ridiculous.... thanksfor you replies!!!!

I work in cardiac surgery. We operated on a patient last July for double valve replacements (mitral and aortic). He recovered well, went back to work and then in December came down with flu like symptoms. It wasn't until a week ago he was recovered and was found to have a +blood culture for enterocco fecalis. Could this bacteria been transmitted in the OR and have taken months for the symptoms to show? thanks in advance!!!

Thanks for the reply. It seems in this case as well that it involves mitral valve prolapse with a thickening of one of the mitral valve cusp even though the doc's say that that shouldn't cause the syndrome.... thanks a bunch....anyone else with knowledge of this kind of syndrome that ususally effects the elderly....

Hi everyone, I am curious if any of you have seen the Syndrome Tachycardia Bradycardia in young patients? When I say young I mean around their 40's. If you have, was there a cause or was it idiopathic? Thanks, AKOR:rolleyes:

I am back in the o.r. after 12 years and I am i na foreign country ....sometimes I have to ask the scrub nurse to repeat what she wants....and when I get really good I will know what she wants....it's a mtter of patience and learning.....I have been working in the o.r. now for 8 months and I still feel like everyday is a learning experience.....I have been in cardio for a month and it is hard....it is hard working with different personalities all the time and sometimes that is a good point too to working in the o.r.. just remember that working in the o.r. is TEAM work and try to get along with your colleagues...everyone is bound to have bad days....one time after the operation the surgeon came up to me and hoped that I didn't take offense because he was pretty rude....he said that when he is operating he becomes a different person....the world is beautiful for it's diversity!!!! Good luck....don't give up yet....

I am an American living in a foreign country and I get made fun of for how I speak their language....It takes much more energy to stick wit hnursing in a foreign language. You have to be very persistent and take the advice of one colleague by reading the paper, watching T.V. in English...just absorb yourself in the language....also read nursing books in English...I find that helps me here in my nursing profession....good luck! you can do it....especially if you are younger than 42 years of age....that's my age and I am finding it exhausting but exhilirating at the same time!!!!!!!