Staff Ratios Cardiac Surgery Operating Room

Specialties Operating Room

Updated:   Published

  1. # RN cardiac circulators: # Cardiac Scrubs in a non-academic setting?

    • 52
      2 RN Cardiac circulators: 1 Cardiac Scrub
    • 8
      1 RN Cardiac circulator: 1 Cardiac Scrub
    • 7
      1 RN Cardiac circulator: 2 Cardiac Scrubs
    • 23
      2 RN Cardiac circulators: 2 Cardiac Scrubs
    • 2
      Other

14 members have participated

I have a question/ informal survey request regarding open heart staffing in a community hospital. I work in a hospital that has one open heart room/ one heart surgeon. We currently have 2 RNs/ 1 scrub tech per case. There is 1 anesthesia tech on day shift who serves the entire 5 room OR.

Our new surgeon is keen on reducing the staff to 1 RN/ 1 scrub. But, we don't have the ancillary staff like an academic center that is dripping with personnel and residents. If everything is going well, I can see the possibility of doing the case with 1 RN circulating- but what if all H breaks loose? Sometimes there is NO one to run for blood or help out. And, then there are the turnovers... remember, I said we have ONE open heart room.

So, I'm really worried about this. My question is: what are other hospitals doing in terms of staffing ratios in the heart room? Can anyone point me to an article or source that can give stats on cardiac OR staffing ratios in a community hospital? Thank you very much.

The nurse tech does the Anes tech job and helps turn over the room, run labs to blood bank, gets blood, basically a runner because the Circulator does not leave the room. For weekend call we have 4 people on call 1st scrub, 2nd scrub, circulator, nurse tech... I have worked at another hospital that was a teaching facility and there call team was only the 1st scrub and they dealt who ever else was available to circulate

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Thanks, Heart_

((I'm watching my open poll and there seems to be a trigger happy non-member pushing the 1 circulator: 1 scrub button. I think my thread has been discovered by my hospital, LOL, because there are no registered members writing about how their hospital gets by with only 2 staff members in their community hospital heart room)).

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Ha ha a troll. I'm surprised that your surgeon is on board with wanting only 2 people in the room.. This is heart surgery!!! I know why the hospital would want it to decrease operating costs (they may be pressuring the surgeon) ... I have heard people say at other hospitals once you give up that body you will never get them back in the room. We spend hours in the room with these surgeons yet they sometimes still don't see how hard we work for the surgery to have a positive outcome..A Thankless job but keep fighting for your team and for your patients.

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Specializes in CVOR.

I work in an academic center, and our cardiac program has gone through stages of ups and downs in the last few years. We currently have 2 surgeons, 2 PA's, a fellow (doing vascular right now), 4 RN's, and 1 ST (who is very new to the team and still training). Our mgmt. decided to have only 2 of us in the room for all cases. Weekends always have 2 on call.

I find it unsafe and have asked to have the second circulator added back into the mix. We have always had 1 scrub person, but the second circulator was available to scrub in if needed. It also helped with breaks, as we could just relieve each other when needed.

I'm glad to see that the majority of people agree that more is a better and safer way to practice in the OR.

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At my hospital we can run 3 rooms at a time. This can mean different things:

2 hearts and a tavr room.

2 hearts and a robot room

Or 3 heart rooms.

We have 1 circulator, 1 main scrub (CST or rn scrub) and a 2nd scrub as we call it. Also there is a PA. Tavrs have 1 scrub and 1 RN, and lungs/robots only need 1 and 1 also.

Nurses average 8 days on call. 1st scrubs average 15 days on call and the 2nd scrubs average 6-8. So the skill mix isn't equal among those that are the 1st scrub hence the increased call. We have done this forever and that main scrubs are tired of all the call. Would you make the others learn and take 1st scrub call? Docs want either 1 of 2 scrubs to stay home on call or have just 1 scrub and 1 circulator for cases.

We also work 8 hr shifts and typically work 10+ hrs. So for that reason they want to move to 10 hr shifts.

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Our institution does not allow Scrub Techs to scrub on hearts.

I scrub on our High-Risk Aortic Team and we have 14 in the room:

  • 2 Attendings
  • 1 Fellow
  • 2 PAs
  • 2 Scrub RNs
  • 2 Circulator RNs
  • Anesthesia Attending
  • Anesthesia Fellow
  • CRNA
  • 2 Perfusionists
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