What do you want O.R. nurses to do during a trauma alert?

[linda2097]

I am an operating room RN who just started night shift. During a trauma alert, I will go to the ER. What can I do to help the ER staff?

[linda2097]

No patient will ever get rushed to the OR without notice, but that precious time you spend rushing through the hallway could have been better spent getting your stuff ready.

I can sit in the OR and wait for the surgeon to call me, or I could be right next to the trauma patient in the ER and know what I need before the surgeon would have picked up the phone. The ER is 30-second jog from the OR. Also, I can call my coworkers to set up stuff while I am still in the ER.

[rubysunshine]

In our ER we page out traumas to either the Category 1 or Catergory 2 trauma group pagers...OR nurses always come down for Category 1 traumas.

[mmutk, BSN, RN, EMT-I]

OR at our level 1 center is in the always dedicated Trauma OR room and stays there on standby during an alert. If we need OR we call you from the trauma bay and tell you we are on the way - so you can open the supplies and be ready for surgery by the time we roll in the doors.