Safety Tips on the Operating Table

Two years ago, I worked at the hospital and was assigned at the Operating Room. Sometimes, I was the scrub nurse where I got to assist the doctors. Oftentimes, I was the circulating nurse where I had to check the patient's chart prior to his or her surgery. I had to make sure that everything was in place before the operation started and one important thing was to shave the patient. This was actually the hospital protocol especially if the patient was to be inserted with a catheter. And if the surgical procedure was to be on the abdominal area, I had to remove the hair by shaving it as not to cause hindrance during the operation and also to minimize infection. It was our duty to clean the patient first before letting the surgeon takes over.

In order to make sure the patient was comfortable throughout the shaving procedure, we had to have a good technique for shaving and use only a safety razor. It was also best to avoid putting too much pressure when using the razor so as to prevent unwanted cuts or injuries which could possibly endanger the patient. Moreover, the razor blades must always be checked if they are still sharp and usable. My experience at the OR may be short but I've certainly learned a lot on the art of shaving :)

Disclaimer: I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.

My Scrub Nurse Experience

My hospital training days at the Operating Room are already over. It ended last week and I can say that it was good while it lasted. I haven't encountered any troubles with the staff, with my superiors, with my colleagues, with the surgeons, with the equipments and most especially with the patients. 3 months was not enough to make me a confident scrub nurse. Heck, I cannot even memorize some of their equipment and some sutures being used.

When I was assigned on Orthopedic cases, gosh, I had a headache looking for the right incision set. Good thing that the surgeons were quite understanding because they really have plenty of equipment to use. I often thought that these Ortho doctors were also good in carpentry (and all of them are great in dress-making as they were good in stitching the wound, hehe). The other week, the patient had a Below-Knee-Amputation (I think you know what that means) so they have to use wire cutter to - well - be able to cut the bone (whew!). I was one of the circulating nurses then, so we were to receive the amputated leg of the patient and put it in a box and give it to the relatives. We could also see some hammers, screws, etc, being used by those surgeons. And if I had to scrub, I needed to wear a lead vest (which was quite heavy) to protect myself from the X-ray. They needed to do that in the middle of the operation to correctly determine which area was affected. Oh, and on my last day there, I was to monitor the patient who was hacked (literally, I mean hacked on the face up to the neck!) at the Recovery room. I don't know what happened to him now but I hope he survived.

Anyway, some surgeons from other field were nice but some were really strict and with an acerbic tongue! I think all of us were not exempted from experiencing some of the surgeons 'insult. It was irritating but then we had to let it pass by our ears. Sometimes, they blame us for giving them clamps that were self-releasing/dilapidated (as they termed it) but why blame us? They were the ones who frequently use it while we only served it to them? And to think some of these surgeons were just neophytes/residents and ironically, the consultants were kinder than them. But of course there were some surgeons who were very nice also and treated the nurses very well. They said they can't function without us (now, that's teamwork!). I wish they would all think like that, hehe.

Well, if there were some irritating surgeons, there were annoying staff nurses, too. I think some of them had become lazy because they let only the trainees do all the work for them. It would have been ok but at least they should stay at their post to guide us in case we lost track especially on rare cases. And to think we rendered our services for free - no salary for the whole 3-starving-months!!! (I think i'd rather do blogging and earn even just a little, hehe). Well, that's how the system goes in here in order to get a certificate (take it or leave it). But some staff were amazing and helpful, too, and I was glad to have met them.

Despite that kind of atmosphere, overall, the experience was worth it. It taught me humility - of course, we were to clean the bloody area afterward and if the patient pooped, it would be our responsibility to clean it up, too - which, unfortunately, did happen to me!!
It also taught me discipline, to be more compassionate, to have a good interpersonal relationship with co-workers - and to be more careful with my health.

Well, maybe someday I'll work with them again (I thought of working at the ICU - another challenging area) but Not now, especially that I just kicked out our house help last week for being so hard-headed (she went home late again!). She was a bad liar, too, and what's worst, she couldn't be trusted as I found some of my items on her cabinet. Now, at least I feel safe not having her around anymore.

Scrub...Scrub

I remember I made a promise to Niko that I'm going to post a pic of myself doing some stuff at the hospital, in action. Well, here it is...dunno if you'll recognize me :)

Scrub Nurse. Serving the surgeons with clamps, Allis, Mixters, sutures, etc...
(I made some pics blurry in here to protect the privacy of others ;) )

Circulating Nurse. Charting/nurses notes, prep the patient, manage the area, interview patients

Striking a pose after an 8-hour shift. With co-trainees (me on the L side)

My Nursing Years (Capping, Graduation, Oath-taking, Thanksgiving)

Capping Ceremony; with 1 year old Chloe

Holding Nightingale's lamp & receiving the Bible

Pinning & Graduation with hubby ;)

FINALLY, A NURSE :D

Oath taking Ceremony

Thanksgiving Party (posing with Chloe)

Life At the O.R.

I had a long holiday last week because we (trainees) were given a holiday off by our OR Head Nurse and Supervisor. And so Monday came and I went on duty. To be honest, I'm kind of tired already, hehe. I like the experience but extending it for another 3 months is not on my plan. For one, I don't receive any incentives, therefore, no motivation :D But anyways, I've gain knowledge thru this experience and with that, I am thankful. Another reason is that I am planning to go on with my nclex review and third, I plan to go out of the country again but I still don't know when.

Going back to my OR training, there were times when I really enjoyed working in there but there were days that I was also stressed out. Sometimes, I just don't get the surgeons blaming the nurses why we gave them instruments that were not good. But why blame us? We only serve and wash the instruments. It's them who were using it frequently. But I also knew that some of these instruments need to be replaced, too. I just hope they would communicate to us fairly. Aren't we a team? And there were some staff, too, who would let us carry all the burden even we're not that experienced with the job. They expected too much, but of course, I want to give my best, too. Actually, it also depends of what kind of a person he/she is. Some were really helpful, and some, I don't know...

But as I've said before, I am up for the challenge. So, it's either I take it or leave it. But I was glad to find out that I survived the past 3 months. I was supposed to end my 3-month training with them last week but need to extend for another 2 weeks because of my absences. Oh well, I'll just make the most out of it.

My O.R. Week

I'm having a little free time nowadays to post an entry here but I'll try my best to put on some updates. I know I'll get used to this kind of routine soon, and even waking up as early as 5 o'clock in the morning! I started having my duty the other week and at that time, we were oriented to the place, the set-up, the staff and everything. And then I was informed that I'll be assigned at the Operating Room. Actually, I was a bit skeptical to be an OR nurse because there are so many instruments that I am not familiarized with and I've heard that some doctors are hot-tempered. But I knew that OR is one of the cream of the crop in a hospital and it will be a big challenge for me to join their team, so, I stated in my application that I wanted to be assigned at the OR - and there I was!

My second week at the OR was more on observing how the senior nurses did their part. I got to helped them do the nurses notes. Despite the heavy rain and bad weather, we had to be there (although some were absent because their houses were flooded) to take care of the patients. Thank God, I survived that week.

And then came my third week. They usually rotated us to different areas and I was assigned to the ER-OR area. Cases that were catered in there were minor operations. But on the very first day, I was totally stressed out. My time was extended for another 2 hours and I arrived home so drained and tired. As early as 7:30 p.m., I was already off to bed. The following day, it was the exact opposite and I was tired, too, for nothing much to do, hehe. But as I've said before, I've no reasons to complain but to thank only that we were there trying to save and extend services to the sick people at the hospital. But I did not scrub yet as of this week (assisting doctor during operation). I was more of a circulating nurse but I'm pretty sure that by next week, I'll be more of a scrub nurse. And oh, some doctors I've encountered lately were nice, by the way.

Hope to post more interesting stories next time ;)