What was your 1st OR experience in NS?

[MedicalNerd]

I had my 1st OR experience today in Clinical today and it was really great. I am a 1st semester ADN student doing a Med/Sug rotation in a post-surg unit. My pt today had needed to go in for a cystoscopy, retrograde pyeloragram and a ureteroscopy.

I was just curious to see what others had for their 1st OR experience and did you think it was a good experience for you?

Thank you for your thoughts!

[kbnocturna]

hahah, I *have* to tell about my first OR experience.

I was watching a knee replacement, which I hear is one of the most gruesome surgeries you can watch. I was thoroughly enjoying it. I was standing at the foot of the bed, and the company rep for the knee replacement was explaining everything to me step-by-step; it was like having a tour guide.

Then the surgeon drilled out the end of the femur, and placed a steel rod in it to measure it, and bone marrow went gushing out from around the steel rod. I began to feel woozy. I commented on this to the company rep, and he ran and got me a stool. I leaned up against the wall, clutching the stool with my hands, still trying to watch the surgery, getting very frustrated that I was getting more and more lightheaded, and that my vision was slowly tunnelling in; I wanted to see the surgery!

I almost got away with it, until one of the surgical tech looked over me, and barked an order to the circulating nurse, ''You need to get her out of here now!'' He called someone on the phone, and somebody came in and escorted me out, supporting my weight. Everything was rather fuzzy at that point, but I remember not wanting to miss the bone saw.

They put me in the breakroom and had me lay on a couch, and they kept giving me water. Several other staff were in there, and they started exchanging battle stories of their woozy moments. I kept asking to go back into the OR, but for some reason they wouldn't let me. I tried to explain that I am naturally very pale, but they didn't buy it. :stone

When they finally let me go back in, I had missed the bone saw! I was sooo disappointed! Fortunately for me, they hadn't sawed the patella yet (which comes later in the surgery), so I got to fill my appetite for bone sawing. :chuckle (Peices of bone go flying everywhere; it's great )

That was my first OR experience. I've never passed out in my life, but I came close there. I'll never forget it. I am kinda interested in pursuing OR nursing after I graduate, although I doubt it will be in orthopedics.