ortess1971

I was always taught that even if a patient asks you directly how things went, is something cancerous etc, that you were just supossed to say "the doctor will discuss that with you" So that's what I do on a professional level-my human mushy side knows that it may be very hard for them to wait and I WANT to tell them. But that would be stepping outside my SOP so I don't.

I'm stealing the idea for this thread from the General Nursing Discussion. They had a neat one about all the old school techniques and practices. I talked to an older nurse at work, and she said they use to reuse gloves!? Is this true? Any "seasoned" OR nurses that can tell us how they used to do things back in the day? I love hearing about stuff like that...

I agree. It would be nice if you could talk to her like a rational human being but it sounds as though she's forcing your hand. Write her up. You're not only protecting patients from her negligence, you're protecting your license.

I took a chance and ordered shoes online and they've been working out nicely. They're Cherokee Rockers and the model is Flash. Kind of like an old school nursing shoe-clunky type mary janes.

Oldest child by a lot(7 yrs older than my sis, and 12 yrs older than my brother) and my dad is an alcoholic. Still have a good relationship with him though-he was/is a good dad despite his problems. I forgave him long ago. I also have heard of this theory and think there is something to it. Children of alcoholics tend to be good in a crisis and sometimes will create drama just so they feel like they are in a "familiar" environment. I know-I've done it!:uhoh21:

Not to sound unsympathetic but most facilities are like that. Meaning that OR nurses scrub, circulate, play the part of anesthesia during conscious sedations, and whatever else is needed. What kind of facility do you work in? I do think that they could have other nurses multitask as well though. But, in any given day, I scrub and circulate and in one case I did both! Someone came in to relieve me for lunch, when I came back, they said the scrub hadn't gotten lunch so I scrubbed her out and someone took over the circulating. I actually like when I get to do different things..I get bored easily!

Pros: surgery is very very cool, you have 1 patient to take care of, the OR is kind of a self contained unit-you get very close to the people you work with, and you basically have a set schedule(except for call), you don't have to deal with pt's families much. Cons: having to pee when you're scrubbed, sometimes you get sprayed with blood and other stuff(as a tech, I got covered in irrigation that had pseudomonas in it! Had to go take a shower!), getting called in in the middle of the night when you're all snuggled under the covers,dealing with some of the docs-especially anesthesia. I also love the OR and wouldn't trade places with anyone..

Beg to differ on that...My hospital has two techs that were trained on the job(one was 3 years ago, the other was 5). Did you actually reread what you posted and the tone of the posts? Maybe you don't mean to be snippy but I'm not alone in feeling that that is how they come across-usually when someone has very few posts, and then chooses to make their first posts negative and confrontational in nature, that person in engaging in troll-like behavior. If you look at my first post in response to you, it was very calm and rational. You chose to respond in a confrontational manner. You then proceeded to back off some of your statements when it appeared that you were getting called on some of your comments. Again, I'm not the only person to notice this. Ok, now I really am done. Marie's right. This thread is becoming tiresome, because you can't have a rational discussion with someone who has a huge chip on their shoulder.

ok, i lied. i'm not quite done...the hostility that was present on this thread was aimed towards rn's. most people here feel that techs have a place in the or and i personally did not say they were uneducated, just that they receive a different education than rn's, one that is procedure focused, rather than focused on the patient as a whole. and in many or's in the country, there are techs who have been "grandfathered" in-they had no formal schooling and learned on the job. i also find it amusing that my post was seen as "immature" by a certain person, when all i did was point out that their posts had a disrespectful tone. ironic that this person didn't start bringing up the teamwork concept until i mentioned it. like marie said, respect goes both ways and patients aren't going to be helped by someone whose ego is their first concern. i didn't see any of us here stating that we think we are "better" than techs. but the fact remains that for now at least, we have separate roles. i work with some techs who run around all day whining about respect while giving no basic human courtesy to others. i only ask a small favor. if you are going to respond to something i have written, at least read it thouroghly and don't put words in my mouth.

Yes, at least in my state, that is what I'm saying. The problem with tech training is that it is not consistent. There are still many techs that received OTJ training and wouldn't know a lab value if it walked up and bit them on the fanny. Techs are certified at the most, and that is not mandatory. Why the snippy attitude towards RN's by the way? Most posts on this thread have been more than respectful towards techs. Techs are needed in the OR, but they do not have the proper training to assess patients. End of story. I'm not going to bother arguing with you further-it's kind of a moot point for me to wonder if techs can circulate because it's not going to happen.(at least where I am). I wish you the best of luck though. Just remember, in order to get respect, you have to give it. Trying to pick fights among members of what is supposed to be a team is childish and self centered.Remember, patients are the focus, not your ego. Hate to point the troll finger but you have all of 2 posts on this board, and both have been antagonistic in tone. Done here, because I don't like to engage in troll feeding.

Pre-op nurses will assess a patient. However, it is vital that the circulator assess the patient as well. As an example, 2 weeks ago, I had a patient who was going in for a nephrectomy. Supposedly, she was seen in pre-op and assessed. However, when I looked in the chart, this patients consent for transfusion of blood product hadn't been filled out. She had a hemoglobin of 9.3 to start and got blood during the case. If I hadn't picked up on the fact that her consent for transfusion wasn't in order, BAD things would have happened. I am not slamming techs. I was one for 5 years, and graduated from a 2 year tech college. But my training was procedure centered not patient centered. We didn't learn lab values, EKG's, F&E balance etc etc. What it comes down to is the circulator is the patient's advocate and you cannot do that job properly if you don't assess your patient completely beforehand.

We also had a problem with surgeons wanting to use the or towels to pack-we ended up putting it in our policy that they are NOT to be used. LOL..doesn't mean some of them still don't try. As a tech, I actually slapped a doctors hand because he tried to grab it off my back table. This was done in a somewhat humorous manner and I knew the doc fairly well so he didn't flip out. The circulator actually applauded!

I'm sorry that you are going through this. I, too, think it would be a shame if you didn't try some other area of nursing. Around here(New England) many of the hospitals will train a new grad in ER, OR, ICU etc. I think it is terrible how M/S nurses get treated and I started nursing school knowing that I would not be doing med/surg when I was done. I have my bad days too, but I love my job. I think a big part of this is I only have 1 patient at a time and I get my breaks and lunch 98% of the time. My ultimate goal is to do travel nursing. Have you considered that option? There are travel agencies that will set you up with a assignment close to home, so if you have a family. it won't affect them. We as nurses are needed. If you had to, you could find another job inside of a week. Make the shortage work for you. I posted my resume on Monster just to keep my options open, and each day, I have 3-5 people calling me regarding jobs. Your niche is out there. Best of luck to you.:biere:

I'm circulating for the most part on my own, next month I'll be completely on my own and in February, I move to the 3-11 shift. They tried to get me to take a 11am-7pm shift but I turned it down. That shift is very disruptive, IMHO.

I like all specialties except for GYN. I don't find it hard, just boring and after a day of dealing with some patients who have BAD personal hygiene and having to watch the OB-GYN's like hawks because they contaminate themselves and the field at the drop of a hat....Uhh, no thanks! Oddly enough, cysto doesn't bother me. I also love vascular, ortho and neuro.

Yeah, what she said! We've also had problems with H&P's not being done and that patient does not go to the room if the paperwork isn't in order. Those forms go in the chart, and are legal documents so it is imperative that they are filled out correctly. The surgeon can whine and stamp his/her feet all they want, I don't intimidate easily and sometimes a doc's hissy fit can provide some much needed comic relief!

I have seen a sponge get left in a patient-usually when this happens, the count has been incorrect and the surgeon will have refused an X-ray(they do this when the count is wrong, and you can't find it after looking for it in the sterile field and the floor etc. The sponges have a radiopaque strip running through them). I have also had surgeons keep closing after you've informed them that the count is wrong. This is where you get the higher ups involved and you document that the surgeon was notified of an incorrect count and proceeded anyway. The instance I witnessed was when I was second scrubbed on a AAA, we were missing a large sponge and told the doctor that it was missing. He very quickly ran his hand around the cavity and said "you people must have it somewhere, it's not in the wound" He also refused an X-ray. They ended up having to bring the guy back to retrieve the large sponge that had been tucked up near his spleen.:angryfire . Hopefully, when things like this happen, you have managers and administration that back you up when you are advocating for the PT and following proper procedure! People can get very sick from this(ie sepsis)

I went right to the OR out of NS and am glad I did-I love the surgical environment and don't think I would have enjoyed M/S as much. That being said, we get plenty of exposure to code browns, vomiting, pus etc etc etc. It is VERY hands on. The girl mentioned in the original post will need experience in an OR most likely-a lot of surgeons hire private scrubs and RN's from OR's they have worked in before. I don't agree with all nursing students being CNA's first though...some kind of healthcare experience, yes, but why should it be CNA work specifically? Some of us worked through NS and I got paid far better as a surgical tech than I would have as a CNA. Obviously, I'm not a fan of everyone starting out in med/surg...I wouldn't want someone taking care of patients feeling that they're just biding their time. We all have our strengths and interests and I believe as nurses we should make the nursing shortage work in our favor.

Wow, that's pretty shady of them-I have never seen a hospital float out its OR staff to other floors though. The closest we've come is to have a nurse or a tech go up to OB to scrub a c-section. I really think that your situation is rare, with all due respect. Most OR's are so busy that the hospital would never consider floating the nurses out. I still say for 99.9 % of people, med/surg is not necessary, especially if you really know that it is for you. Someone with no healthcare experience or exposure to the OR might do well to try M/S, but I've even seen complete healthcare "virgins" do well in the operating room. Again, I think it's horrible what your facility is doing:no: -Do you have any recourse?(union etc?)Your license is on the line.

The reason why sometimes good nurses get targeted is because, despite what the PTB would have you believe, managers are NOT infallible and some of them are meanspirited dimwits. That simple. Some got where they are by buttkissing and sleeping with the right people(have seen this happen in a small community hospital) and others,I believe, start out with good intentions and get corrupted. There are circumstances where accusations are made up-and I have seen some people get reprimanded for something but if the boss's pet does it, no problem. This is why the "newer" generation of nurses has zero loyalty to a particular hospital or facility. Why work your butt off for these jerks when you get nothing in return? We pay attention, trust me. I've seen the damage a poor manager can do to morale and to someone's career. Some of these people are evil, plain and simple. I wouldn't quit though-I say, claim unemployment and make them pay(I was told in most states, your workplace has to pay a portion of your unemployment benefits...) In my facility, they try to make you sign a "resignation" letter. This happened to a friend of mine but, good girl, she wouldn't do it. She found a job a month later, no problem.

:yeahthat: The way I see it is, this girl knew that as a nurse, she must do what is best for the patient, not for herself. When you go into work, you have to leave all your personal baggage at the door. I have a personal history of domestic abuse happening to me, but I still took care of a convict in the OR who was in prison for beating(and almost killing) his wife. Not only do I think she should be fired, I'd report her to the BON. She did take report on this patient, therefore what she did was abandonment.

LOL, I reread my post from the other night...I was pretty PO'd! There are some awesome experienced nurses and techs that are great to new people so I've been trying to hang with them and try to ignore the meanies.

Just wondering if other people have experienced this as well. Lately, it seems as though there is a war of the generations happening in my OR. We have lots of older nurses and techs who loudly proclaim their seniority, but these are the same people who flit around, not doing much of anything. The main claim to fame for some of these people is that they know how to hide, and are gifted at flying under the radar. We have some wonderful older ones as well, who love to teach and are receptive to new people. The "bad" ones basically try to make new people feel like garbage, with the explanation of "I got treated like crap, therefore you must put up with it too" They fail to realize that, actually, we DON'T have to put up with it and most of us have enough backbone to realize it. I was raised to respect the older(but not necessarily wiser!) people, so I've thus far remained professional and haven't told any of them to stick it where the sun don't shine, but the ignorance of some of these people floors me. Do they not realize that if they manage to alienate the younger generation of nurses and techs, there will be none of us around to take call etc? Most people of my generation realize that workplaces have no loyalty towards the workers, therefore, most of us will not put up with a facility's nonsense for 20 plus years. I was raised to respect unions(dad was a firefighter) but part of me thinks it's a good thing this place isn't union. If it were, the lazy people who holler about their seniority would be even more obnoxious! OK,(slowly counts to 10...) I feel better now. I know that really, it's probably more of a personality thing-the lazy ones were probably just as lazy when they were younger, but I'm getting so tired of respect being given solely based on age and the fact that you managed not to get fired. Actual job performance doesn't seem to mean much lately..

IMHO, this is a "major issue" in nursing. You cannot tell me that the nursing shortage is not impacted at all by the poor image nursing has. I attended an academically challenging private girls school and I can say firsthand that they are not encouraging the girls who are good in science and math to choose nursing. In the words of my old guidance counselor, "Nurses don't get treated well and the pay is horrible. You're too smart for that, go to med school." I wasted quite a few years thinking like that and thankfully, I realized that nursing was a great choice for me-I was exposed to some very smart nurses who impressed me with both their clinical knowledge and their way with patients. Through the years, various minority groups etc were often told to "lighten up" or "focus on bigger issues" The problem is that if you don't call the offending parties on the small stuff, it tends to get worse.

You know, I don't offend easily and actually at times can have a pretty raunchy sense of humor. But this does bug me somewhat. There are plenty of male patients who think we are there to be eye candy and will think nothing of trying to feel you up. I've been an RN all of 3 months and this has happened twice. I'm not even counting the pervy old man docs that will try something while you're scrubbed! It's a horrible thing to say, but I will not feel bad when one of these overfed, lardbutt perverts has an MI and the floozy hoochiemama nurse is unable to do anything to help...