What's the easiest job in the operating room?

#1rnstudent · Jul 8, 2009

Depends on the patient, the comorbidities, the type of surgery and risks involved. Anyone of those jobs could be the hardest at any part of the case. Also depends on the people one is working with. Is the surgeon mean? Is the nurse mean? Are there any people orienting in the room? I think orientees have the hardest time in the room since they are new to the situation(s). So... it depends.

openheartmary · Jul 8, 2009

There is no easiest job in the or.

KayceeCA · Jul 8, 2009

There is no easiest job in the or.

Exactly.

I went to nursing school later in life (graduated at the age of 36) so I had a lot of jobs before that in a variety of fields - waitressing, retail sales, secretarial work (in banks, real estate, hospitals, small business, large corporations), paralegal work, travel and tourism, city government, state government, military...you get the idea. I've never had a position where teamwork was as key as it is in the OR.

As a previous poster said, it really depends on any given moment in any given case which position is "easiest" or "hardest."

OrthoBoi · Jul 9, 2009

Sorry to say that any role you play in the OR has it's own stressor. It is hard to say who does the easiest job. Each one has to always perform in the highest level possible to make your job easier. Maybe the question is, at what level you think, you will be most effective on? If you know what you want, your job will be easier. Then you can say, "I have the easiest job in the OR" hope that helps!

linda2097 · Jul 9, 2009

I think first assistant is the easiest. All they do is hold retractors and then suture skin.

ShariDCST · Jul 9, 2009

i think first assistant is the easiest. all they do is hold retractors and then suture skin.

that depends on numerous factors - who the first assistant is, how good they are at their job, the caliber of the surgeon they are working with, the difficulty of the procedure at the time, the condition of the patient, and many other issues. first assistants - real first assistants, whether they are rnfas. cst-cfas, surgical pas - have to do a lot of extra training to become those things, and their job can be just as stressful as any other in the or at any given time.

saying "all they do is hold retractors and then suture skin" is like saying "all circulating nurses do is paperwork, run and fetch for the sterile team and anesthesia, and bring the patients in and out of the room." we all know that's oversimplifying - and insulting - to all good circulators everywhere.

linda2097 · Jul 9, 2009

No offense Shari, but have you circulated? OVERALL, circulating is a lot harder than first assisting or scrubbing. Yes, there are tough cases to scrub, but OVERALL, circulating is the hardest. I look forward to the days that I get to scrub all day. Scrubbing is usually fun. There is so much less responsibility, which is precisely why an RN degree in not required. Most techs have no idea how hard is circulating, despite the fact that they watch circulators in action everyday. I've seen excellent scrub techs become nurses and they are unpleasantly surprised how difficult is circulating. The point is that until you do all three... circulating, scrubbing, and first assisting, you cannot accurately judge which job is the toughest.

As for RNFA training, the course is usually just a few days long, followed by logging hours first-assisting in their hometown hospital. So their training is very little more than that of a circulator.

You're a tech, so you have first-assisted often, and when you do so, you are being the scrub tech at the same time. Now imagine doing only the first assisting part. Unless the patient is crashing or bleeding out, it is an easy job.

I work with an RNFA with 20 years experience. I asked her why she became an RNFA. She told me that she "just wanted to do what was easiest." You may not like her answer, but she was just being honest.

Yes, I realize that it is politically incorrect to say that some jobs are harder than others, but to say that all jobs are OVERALL EXACTLY equal in difficulty is inaccurate.

Tell me what F.A.'s do besides retract, suction, cut, saw, drill, and suture?

ShariDCST · Jul 9, 2009

I have not circulated as a primary - legally I cannot - but I have second-circulated a lot and I do know what's involved because I work very closely with my circulator when I do that, and I know what she/he's doing and why. I can't first circulate because I'm not an RN - obviously - but not being able to DO the job legally doesn't mean I don't know what's involved.

As for "difficulty" - it's a matter of perspective I guess. Anytime you get to change up your focus is usually an "easy" day relatively speaking. I guess my point is that to try and minimalize the importance of ANY job in the OR - like some folks (even doctors and other nurses) try to do with circulating, and I always try and reeducate them about that misconception - is about the same as saying that any other job is "easier" or "harder" by comparison. I think they are all difficult jobs, which is why not just anybody can do them.

"Of course it's hard. If it wasn't hard - everybody would be doing it." - (Tom Hanks - "A League of Their Own")

I have first assisted often, and frequently I am NOT the scrub tech as well - but in the middle of the night, on callbacks for C-sections and whatnot - I am assisting with one hand and passing with the other. Now that is an interesting mix of jobs!

No offense was taken - and none was intended either - the whole point is that every job is important, takes a good bit of education to do well, and the fact that things can go swirling right down the drain at any given moment makes it even more stressful. Difficulty is usually in the eye of the beholder, so it's really hard to quantify sometimes.

Have a good day.

linda2097 · Jul 9, 2009

I appreciate your friendliness, but please be aware that second-circulating as a tech is not an accurate taste of circulating. You were not allowed to the things that only RN's do, and you always had another circulator to fall back on. You will never know what circulating really feels like unless you get an RN degree and circulate solo. Just like I will never know how hard it is to be a physician.

I admit that this thread was a bad idea of mine. I wanted to get opinions but I did not anticipate it turning into a politically-correct discussion.

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Jul 11, 2009

I'm not sure you can even compare circulating and scrubbing. I do both and they both have their hard parts.

In my specialty, night call(11p-7am) is scrub call. I was on call a few weeks ago and stayed the whole call shift. Let me tell you, I had forgotten how taxing scrubbing can be..I literally walked out of there the following morning feeling like I had been beaten.

Good scrubs are worth their weight in gold. When I was a scrub, not only did I train new scrub techs, often I had a new nurse who didn't know what a certain instrument was, etc. Also, you're keeping an eye on the med student. There were times when the attending would be quizzing the student on anatomy and I fed him/her the right answer:lol2:(I did really well in Anatomy class). Or, you're watching them to make sure they don't contaminate themselves. You have to anticipate the surgeon, keep track of some very small needles etc.

Circulating is no piece of cake either, you're watching the patient, helping anesthesia, handling beepers/cell phones/ pagers. You have much responsibility-if something goes wrong, good chance it'll get blamed on the circulator, deserved or not.I will say that due to my time as a scrub, I think it helps my circulating.

To me, the OR is almost all about the teamwork..I've worked with teams where everything just flows, and you are actually having fun at work. I've worked with teams where the tension was unbearable. I wouldn't say any job in the OR is the easiest-it's such a subjective thing. Your coworkers can truly make or break you.

Marvie · Jul 16, 2009

None of the above. The easiest job in the OR is to be just an observer.