I really am having a tough time. Been in the OR for over 15 years. Moved to a new state last summer, and recently went back to work in the OR. I am CNOR certified. Nicest group of staff you will ever meet, but I have never seen anything like this OR in my life.
First, the prepping is god awful. The tech or the surgeon preps. They have no idea how to do it. I've seen surgeons go up around the groin area with the Chloraprep and then go over the incision site on total hips, or start at the nasty toes and go up over the incision site. Go over the booty crack when doing backs and go over the incision site. I keep saying something but nothing changes. They don't even have betadine scrub and paint kits. Don't even know what I am talking about when I asked where they were. If the patient has an allergy to Chloraprep, they just paint some betadine on the incision site. I have only been here a short time but spend more time in the director's office complaining than I should. Nobody knows how the beds work. They think I'm crazy when I went to take the head of the bed off and put it at the foot for lithotomy. They don't know how to tuck arms. They insist on doing it under the mattress and pulling back on the patients arms even though it causes nerve injury, they refuse to do it under the patient. When they were showing me their autoclaves, they didn't have the Bowie Dick or anyway to test them. Didn't know what I was talking about. They flash instruments with towels in the tray. I explained that you shouldn't do that, towels sterilize at a different setting and they just look at me. Someone brought in a fresh pan of instruments and they nurse said just grab the pan because the towels are wet. Well then the pan hasn't had enough dry time and isn't sterile! They don't have count sheets for their instrument pans, just a general number of how many instruments should be in there. So when the count is off, nobody knows what is missing! They don't know how to apply the tourniquet, and when the doc does nobody ever buts a drape or tape or anything around it to keep prep from seeping up under it. Speaking of prep, they don't let the chloraprep dry, they just immediately drape. If a case is delayed they cover their tables with sheets and just leave them for ever how long until the case goes! Shall I continue? I just don't know what to do. I was hoping maybe I could change some things, but it's not be received well. Nicest people I have ever worked with in an OR but seriously???? Any thoughts. My thoughts are to move on down the road...LOL
i am an acute care medicine rn and thinking about taking the OR course and i even know that these practices are unsafe, maybe you can report it to licensing board after you quit, at least your conscience would be clear that you had tried to help
On the floor, antibiotics are hung with an alaris pump but in the OR the anesthesiologist hangs it like if he is giving a bolus or IV push, no pump nothing...everyone doesn't seem to mind...maybe it's just me.
Also we don't give report to pacu, the anesthesiologist goes with the patient and so does the surgical pa...is that like this in other places..I'm in upstate ny
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
On the floor, antibiotics are hung with an alaris pump but in the OR the anesthesiologist hangs it like if he is giving a bolus or IV push, no pump nothing...everyone doesn't seem to mind...maybe it's just me.
Depends on the antibiotic. Ancef is given IV push. Vanco is given on a dial-a-flow. Those are the two big ones I deal with on a daily basis.
Also we don't give report to pacu, the anesthesiologist goes with the patient and so does the surgical pa...is that like this in other places..I'm in upstate ny
Working in cardiac surgery, my patients usually go directly to ICU. I call report 30 minutes prior to the expected time out of OR. Circulating RN and anesthesia both transport, anesthesia supplements phone report. For patients going to PACU, nurse and anesthesia both transport and give brief report.
I work in cardiac surgery and call report to CVICU recovery nurse 30 minutes before we go up. Anesthesia and myself transport patient to unit monitored.
Wow! Lots of scary info in these post! @elle604, our hospital does the same, if the antibiotic cannot go in safely at a higher rate, we us a dial a flow, but otherwise just piggyback most of our abx in, we very rarely use pumps in the OR.
I realize that the antibiotics and the fluids go in like if they are giving a bolus! The 2gm ancef, cefoxitan goes in less then 15 minutes which usually would take about 30 mins. I don't think they even use the piggy bag hook at all in the OR at all!
i love this post. after first i felt like I was the idiot at my new job. Leaving the doors wide open during procedures? check! . its pathetic when i feel like i have to watch my coworkers when they are "helping" me open instruments onto the sterile field. I voice my complaints to the director and manager but nothing really happens. In fact i have earned by nickname as "The Closer" because i walk around closing OR during setup. Are people really that ignorant!!
LADIES WE ARE ALL AWESOME!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
SusanO'donnell
3 Posts
i am an acute care medicine rn and thinking about taking the OR course and i even know that these practices are unsafe, maybe you can report it to licensing board after you quit, at least your conscience would be clear that you had tried to help