When is a routine a habit?
According the Oxford dictionary, a habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
When is a habit a routine?
According to the Oxford dictionary, a routine is a sequence of actions regularly followed.
And what happens if something causes a deviation from whatever term you choose?
It is my routine when I am called in for a case to follow a series of set steps. Get dressed. Get in the car and drive to the hospital. Get changed into scrubs. Schedule the case. Pick the case. Get the patient. Prep the patient. Call PACU nurse in. Do the case. Stay with PACU nurse as the second nurse.
Or not. If there is another case, this opens up another set of subroutines.
Okay. I guess that is my answer. How I function when called in is a routine.
But the question remains what happens if something causes a deviation from pattern?
Entering the conversation: pattern.
The answer is sometimes I lose my place, especially if it is a call from the supervisor, not the surgeon.
Threw my entire routine off.
Add in a nurse I was doing buddy call with. Also a disruption in routine, but a normal one.
Maybe the best example is the call case is like a juggler, keeping all the balls in the air.
There are a lot of details to keep in the air.
Don’t drop one.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 