JaneRNBSN

I'm an RN with surgical experience, wannabe nursery nurse. Since I could not get hired without experience, I took a birth doula workshop and ended up working as a staff doula. I get all the fun and none of the responsibility! I also became a certified lactation counselor, so I get to help moms get a great start on breastfeeding. I don't make near the money, mind you, but then again...I'm getting paid to PLAY!

i'm a staff doula and i work under the nurse's supervision; ie getting pt out of bed, to the br, i always ask before i do that. our common goal is the safety of mom and baby. everything else is just "fluff":typing

may i ask what turned you off about doulas, lisa?

I went to a Doula workshop and found a hospital that uses doulas as staff! I love it! Check us out at http://www.dona.org

I'm a newcomer to AA and a former surgical nurse. With the help of My Higher Power and AA, I will reach 30 days on March 12th. My childhood memories are dominated by fear, uncertainty, insecurity and bitterness toward my father. He too was an alcoholic. My first drunk was with my older sister and her friends at the age of 14, I think. At 17 I discovered clubbing and it was so much fun! However, as the years progressed, I found myself just recently drinking tequila, vodka, etc from the bottle because nothing was strong enough to send me to oblivion. One more slug out of the bottle caused immediate and uncontrollable vomiting all over my beautiful hardwood floor! I was so sick of acting this way, but I continued drinking through the weekend. My dear friend who is 7 years sober was there for me. I told her I wanted to quit. She handed me a schedule of meetings , A Big Book and told me she would come to my first meeting. I recently celebrated my 5oth bellybutton birthday sober as a church mouse. I go to a meeting almost every night, have a wonderful sponsor. This friday I will share the third step with my home group. I would love hearing from other recovering alcoholics out there. Your message can be a great source of hope for me and others.

Sounds to me like you are mad at yourself for getting his clipboard for him. I know I would be kicking myself all the way home!

You won't BELIEVE this story! As a relatively new circulator, I was asked to give CS to my patient during a hernia repair under LOCAL anesthesia! I told my supervisor that I was not comfortable with the situation, so she and the doc agreed that HE would sedate the patient while he was doing the surgery....my supervisor was the scrub and I was the circulator. Well, doc gave the first couple of doses of Demerol and Versed, changing his sterile gloves after each dose. My supervisor looked at me and said, "It's ok, go ahead and give the meds, Jane." I found myself thrust into a dangerous situation trying to circulate and sedate the pt. (Who, after over 50ccs of Lidocaine local, was still writhing and screaming on the or bed) It was too late for me to refuse the assignment by then, so I had to compromise my beliefs that day. I was so upset and angry that I let my patient down! I'm supposed to be his advocate. I tried to do the right thing by telling my supervisor I wasn't comfortable, but I was lured into that situation believing the doc was going to be responsible for sedation. Boy was I wrong! What could I have done in that situation? I don't want to hear about writing up anybody or anything I could have done afterwards.....I want to know what I should have done AS SOON as this situation reared it's ugly head.

How about this one? WHAT MAKES ORTHOPODS SUCH ASSHOLES?????

As a PACU nurse in a small rural hospital, this sacred cow really does need to be euthenized. Hypotensive patients are routinely put into Trendelenberg; research has suggested that this can "trick" the sensors in the Aortic arch which can result in an even lower blood pressure. The new standard is to keep pt. flat but raise the legs instead. Makes sense to me.

I disagree with the nurse who instructed the resident to help with TEDS, etc. As a circulator, I am already rushing to get things done and any help from a doc is regarded as rushing me further. I've worked with some real pills who scream, throw tantrums, throw instruments, berate the staff and walk out after the procedure with at BEST a cursory "Thanks, guys." By all means, treat the staff with common courtesy, but don't let them walk all over you....and they will if you are TOO NICE. Make it clear in a RESPECTFUL manner that you expect efficiency and competence and you will get it. We are all there for the patient and work as a team. THERE IS NO I IN TEAM.

Your question about advancing your career in the OR, how about RNFA? The first assistant has lots of responsibilities, including closing the skin after surgery!

Boy, who wouldn't love to shoot their mouth off? I have fantasized many many times about putting those "gods" in their place.

I too went straight to OR nursing after graduation. I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but my preceptor and I are very good friends to this day. She showed me the ropes and took time to answer all of my questions. That was over 10 years ago. A few nuggets she gave me: You are the patient advocate. Circulating is like leading an orchestra. When you go for supplies during a procedure, always bring two. Anticipate, Anticipate, Anticipate!!!!

How about sending her to a perioperative nursing course? I attended one for 6 weeks when I was a newly hired grad. There's so very much to learn and trying to learn it in a stressful, hurried setting is not the optimal learning environment.

Never had an instrument thrown at me. It's amazing all the tantrums I've witnessed firsthand, all the verbal abuse directed at me and my collegues. These docs at my facility stop short of throwing things at nurses. I wrote up one particularly nasty orthopod and with the help of PT's complaints, the doc was reprimanded. Don't know what administration said to him, but he took his group and his patients to another facility. This was after we remodeled and enlarged an OR room and bought helmets, very expensive equipment and instruments just for them. I had the unfortunate opportunity to cross paths with him at another facility and he made my skin crawl. I would just LOVE to see him in an everyday setting and embarrass the hell out of him. Or see him get hit by a bus. "-)

TO CINDYBETH: I worked in OR as a circulator/recovery RN and I understand how you feel. I burned out after only 6 years. The surgeons were the main reason I quit. As you said, they are arrogant, whining little boys! And to add insult to injury, we were called out for non-emergent procedures simply because it was convenient for the doc to do it on weekends or after hours. Administration was spineless, they would let them abuse us and call us out anytime because "they bring money." The only way to save yourself is to get out! Your experience in the OR is a gem on your resume. Go for something you will really enjoy. Life is too short. I am fortunate in that I have the opportunity and financial resources to stay home with my grandchildren. Godspeed.

Who CARES about the hospital. I've never seen or heard of an institution going to bat for a nurse, why should we care about the hospital????

Well, it seems that as long as you make money you can put up with anything. How very very sad.

Yeah, I can. A friend of mine made an observation recently...."Move to the left, move to the right, faster, slower, OH NEVERMIND, I'LL DO IT MYSELF! That's what it's like to be married to this jerk. LOL :chuckle

To Miranda, I worked in the OR and was constantly berated and humiliated by a few choice surgeons. I understood that, as a circulator, my responsibility was to keep the procedure running smoothly so that the pt. was under anesthesia for as little time as possible. If I held up a case, I understood why the doc was yelling at me. But one particular surgeon routinely charged through the door griping and yelling about every little thing he could think of, even the room temp! You made me realize that this guy is just plain scared!!! Thanks for a different spin on things.

You are absolutely right about standing up for myself and I couldn't agree more. BUT, since I am no longer working, the opportunity to put him in his place will not present itself again. At this point, I am trying to support my collegues who have no choice but to work with abusive docs. I wish I had been more assertive in the past because it could have given the other nurses more confidence in standing up to him. But I am a patient advocate in that OR and distracting the big bad doc could have untoward consequences...ie: pt is under anesthesia longer than necessary. My actions were not impotent, this doc was dismissed from our hospital.

As a new grad starting my first job in the surgery department, I was so eager to do a good job that I encountered a LOL in the hallway after taking a pt from surgery back to his room. This LOL was in a w/c shuffling her feet and holding onto the handrails inching her way down the hallway. She was right in front of the nurses station and everyone was busy. I thought, well, I'M not to busy to help a LOL. I knelt down and looked her in the eye and said..."Ma'm, can I help you?" Yes, she said. I innocently asked her, "Where would you like to go?" I WANT TO GO HOME!! All the personnel at the nurses station got a good laugh out of that one.

I have been in the OR for six years and have never heard of time out. What is it? We were doing an arthroscopy on a young gentleman....depending on the surgeon either he/she or the nurse marks the limb after asking the pt which we are doing. We got the pt back to the or, anesthetized, and as I was scrubbing the leg, I noticed a nasty infection on pts toe. I reported this to the surgeon....he replied "good job" but someone should have spotted this before he got back to the OR. ie: The nurse shaving the leg preop, the circulating nurse marking the leg, anesthesia pre op...SOMEONE! Fortunately it was caught before surgery at least or pt could have ended up with a nasty infection.

Thank you for listening. I'm glad I'm out, too.

no, unfortunately, this particular surgeon is rather proud of the fact that he has taken his whole team and all of his patients away from our hospital. i had the opportunity to work with him again at a surgery center and he told me so himself! he continues to abuse staff at all of the hospitals he works at. i've worked at all 3 places and his behavior is the same....he hits the door griping about anything he can find. one morning we arrived an hour early to get his case ready. his patient was in the or, the case was opened...everything was ready. so he griped about the temperature in the room. he went so far as to call the director back and berate her in front of her staff. we had to alert maintenance the day before his total hip or knee cases to turn down the air conditioning!!!! i'm sorry, but when a surgeon hits our doors with that attitude, there is absolutely nothing we can do. we even had to take turns being in his cases, everyone hated him so much. i wrote him up for pointing his finger at me and screaming "shut the door". nothing has changed...he is still spreading his misery all over this area. i can only hope he gets hit by a bus.