Surgical internship

ShariDCST · Feb 14, 2009

i am soon doing an internship in the operating room. when i was in lpn school i observed multiple times in the or with no problems. now that i graduating in may and getting ready for my internship. the problem is that last semester while observing in the cardiac cath lab i got dizzy, lightheaded and had to leave the room. it was terribly embarassing and i do not want it to happen again. it wasn't even anything bloody, i was watching a screen. it may have been that i was standing in the same spot for quite some time with a lead apron on. i don't know. i know that during total hip replacements and spinal surgery i didn't have this issue but that was a few years ago. do any of you have any tips for me to prevent this from happening again? thank you in advance for any info!
april

yep - make sure you eat some breakfast before going in - never go on an empty stomach, even if you have to grab some cheese crackers out of a vending machine - put something in your stomach. but try and do better than that.

if you have to stand in one spot for a long time, do not lock your knees. (that's an old military drill team trick - i used to have a drill team in rotc in high school, and i lost a few that way early on, until they learned it too.) move around, change your view, even if all you can do is flex or bend your knees. if you begin to get the slightest indication that you're going to get lightheaded, dizzy, diaphoretic, your ears start to ring or whatever, sit down if there's something nearby to sit on. this makes a good case for standing next to something you can sit on, or make sure there's one close by. try not to get overheated - those lead aprons can make you sweaty even in a cold room sometimes, because they do not breathe, so your body overheats from the inside. give yourself a break from them even if it's for a minute or so between cases.

if you have to leave the room, do so quietly and quickly, and don't feel too bad. i've had surgical interns do that from time to time, and they are supposed to be up at the table at some point! i even had a seasoned surgeon have to leave during a case once! fortunately, her first assistant happened to be her partner, so we weren't in too bad a shape - i just jumped in and assisted with one hand and passed with the other while she stepped out for a breath of fresh air. we teased her about being preggers, but that wasn't the case! never did figure out why that happened - the only thing she could think of is that she hadn't had breakfast that morning.

when i started my cst program, the very first surgery i got to observe i had to leave the room four times because the smell of the bovie smoke really got to me. the view didn't bother me a bit - i was all over seeing as much as i could! but, i had never been exposed to that smell before, and it was sorta tough to get used to. i went out, got my composure, talked myself into going back in the room again, and again, and i just kept at it until i could stay. you can get used to anything (most of the time) if you want it bad enough.

don't feel bad if you have to leave - just don't make a scene out of it, step out quietly and come back in when you can. it happens to the best of 'em! good luck! :up: