Why I work as an OR RN

[LAM2010, BSN]

I went through nursing school and chose a BSN to be closer to getting an MSN, but mainly because I've wanted a bachelor's degree ever since I was 8. When I finally decided to become a RN (when I was 31), I found you could get a BS in it. So I did. It was hard with a toddler and a part-time job. I am still paying on the student loans.

In med-surg clinicals when I realized the care people were NOT getting with high nurse: patient ratios, I thought I was done. Then I observed in the OR. And that is where I decided to work.

Hospitals hire RNs to circulate, and that's where I chose to work 5 years ago. Now I have a job that requires RNs learn to scrub. So I am learning that soon and I am happy about it.

I am not an OR RN because I think I am important, nor have I adopted that attitude since becoming one.

I just like my work and I'd like to do it without being bullied by scrub techs who like to tell everyone how much they do and that the RNs don't do anything.

But if I happen to have an RN circulator job, and someone else doesn't, why can't they just leave me alone? I have been doing my job 5 years and I know how to check a consent, I don't need a scrub tech riding my butt telling me every little charting thing I need to do. Like how to word MY nurses notes. All I ask is they leave the charting to me. The rest... most scrub techs know more about instruments and surgical aseptic technique than I do.

I have never experienced RNs who think they're better than a scrub tech, so I don't understand why there's so much attitude. I mean more than I feel is warranted. I never did anything to "belittle" a tech. I don't sit on my butt doing nothing while a tech sets up a table. I am pretty active during surgery, I don't sit back and surf, etc.

I was taught that the circulator runs the room. I have had to learn that I really need to do that, a lot. I am not tethered to the patient or the surgical field, so that is what I do. I don't necessarily love that responsibility, but it is mine. And I even stand and watch the surgery, so I anticipate things, too.

Just need to get it off my chest. Can't wait til I learn to scrub.... Maybe this nonsense will stop (probably not). Scrubbing is often a "break" (as in, change of pace) for circulators because you can do hands-on work and don't have to chart, answer pagers, run around, etc. - I don't know what we're expected to do - quit? It's a waste of energy.

[codebrownRN]

I hear what you're saying. I was a surgical tech for 20 years before I became a circulating nurse. My background allowed me to dodge a lot of the barbs you're receiving from the other end. I know a lot of scrubs that talk that way, and to be honest, it is more aligned with poor character rather than the profession. Team oriented people don't degrade other members of the team especially when it comes to total patient care. I know it sounds cliche, but people who are insecure with themselves or their position tend to do those sorts of things. I know from being on the other side that there are more than a few scrubs that hate the fact they get paid half as much as we do to do what they do. But team players aren't so concerned with their status as much as they are with patient care.

I can't say it will ever really stop but just know the most important person in that room is the one laying on the table. How someone else in the room feels about my career choice is rather insignificant in the big picture of things; not to belittle your feelings at all. All I'm saying is sometimes it helps to put things into perspective. We play a very important role, scrubs play an important role, and physicians as well too, obviously. Together, we are all there for the patient at the end of the day. Period.

[it's my journey]

"In med-surg clinicals when I realized the care people were NOT getting with high nurse: patient ratios, I thought I was done. Then I observed in the OR. And that is where I decided to work."

Yes! this is how I feel ... now looking toward peri-operative nursing in the Fall. Hope I am making a good choice.

Your description sounds like bullying to me, and not at all professional. CodebrownRN made some really pertinent points and since we can't change how other people act, the suggestion to put things in perspective may make it a little easier to endure. Not easy sometimes ... but, I'm also taking those words into consideration :)

[Graduation2016]

As a OB Scrub Tech I was somewhat offended with this post when I started reading. Then I thought about my RN co-workers. We have an awesome relationship and it is sad that scrub techs in your area make you feel like this. We are al not like that, I'm certainly not like that. As I'm preparing to graduate with my BSN this December, I know what type of nurse I want to be and what type I don't want to be like. A few weeks ago one of my classmates attended a C/S in clinicals and I asked him if he noticed the role of the scrub so he could have an idea of what I did at work, then he said "she didn't do much, she just stood there", 😳. This was a slap on the face to me. In our field everyone's job is important, from the surgeon to the lady from housekeeping. Hope you have fun scrubbing! You will love it!

[brighidh]

The attitude you describe from scrub techs is a lot of what we're facing in our internship. When our instructor isn't around (and the scrub techs either haven't realized or don't care that I'm a new RN intern) the talk in the breakroom is pretty horrific. Talk about how RNs will take their jobs, how RNs don't know how to do anything.... blah blah blah blah. The truth is that they will never staff RNs into that position as long as they can pay scrub techs to do it because of the pay difference, so why the fear of losing their jobs is there, I don't know. I really appreciate what codebrownRN posted about it, because ultimately, that's what it has come down to in realizations. Personal character is "everything".

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

I am an OR RN with about 10 years of periop experience under my belt and 5 years of teching prior to that. I love having a good knowledgeable tech in my room because that can make or break your day. I am in the habit of letting my tech know that I appreciate their assistance.

That being said, I am also not afraid to point out that I've done this stuff before and actually know a little about what I'm doing. i don't need to be coached on how to do organize my room or do my documentation. If it's not patient safety or physician preference, don't steamroll over me. Conversely I will not tell my tech how to organize her table. It does not matter if i would do it differently. As long as she can get to what she needs and we can count in a timely manner, it's cool. OR has a lot of very strong personalities, both nurse and tech. I had one little snot (an awful, awful example of a tech.) that yapped on incessantly about what she had done, where she had been (the "Well, i trained at UNC and we did......, because i'm trauma trained" whatever the heck that means.) and the sad thing was that she was frequently wrong. I mean wrong like, asking the doc why i did not duraprep a perirectal abscess? Hmmm, only if the patient consented to having their butt cheeks glued together. Working with this person was so miserable. The only thing i can think is that she was just plain a miserable person. Fortunately, she is no longer in the department (or the hospital) and the day she left, the stress level in the place dropped exponentially.

To the new folks that either are in the OR or considering it, go for it. Be strong and don't let the bullies get you down. Take advice from those that you feel safe doing so. Trust your gut. If you are told something that sounds odd than verify it. That little voice is your "nursing gut." The same one that tells you a patient is about to go south just before they do. Nuture that little voice. It will serve you well in the future.

Don't become the RN version of the techs (or other nurses, for that matter) that think so little of themselves that the only way they know to prop themselves up is to bring down others. None of that negative behavior is good for the patient, and the patient is why we are all here anyway, yes?

[Argo]

Knowing how to scrub will make a difference for the rest of your career in the OR. I scrubbed first and went to nursing because I hated standing for hours a day without relief. I never said a thing to anyone about hating it until afterwards. Now I know what their job is and can make sure they know if they are not satisfied with their work they can do the same as I did. You will also gain instant street cred when you can talk a scrub through a case that they have never done or have little experience at. Working as a traveler, knowing the scrub role is an immediate "in" with the team. Another thing to help you with this if you dont scrub is to be a very active team member. Help break the room down, help clean up, help turn over the room, pay attention all the time and not get caught up in your computer charting....