The post-it reads “Jack of all trades, master of none full quote.”
Yes, I am aware that Shakespeare wrote it.
Which is quoted extensively by people apologizing for their existence. I’ve said it myself, calling myself the jack of all trades in the operating room.
However, it is not completely quoted.
Or even correctly attributed.
Not written by Shakespeare. Maybe? As this was 400 years ago it is a little murky.
The complete quote was the jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than the master of one.
In other words, it is better to have a wide experience pool from which to gather information and skills.
This is very true in healthcare. And doubly true in the operating room.
Some nurses work their entire lives in one small subsection of the field. In one specific surgery. Oh, they know it backwards and forwards, have done all the complications from surgery X.
I can imagine their distress and confusion when surgery X turns into surgery Q.
But the well-rounded nurse has experience when things go awry and the surgery has to be changed on the fly.
Because it is not how many times or how well one has done the surgery X in the past. One different patients, with different instruments.
It is about how well you can dodge roadblocks with the patient on the OR table in front of you.
It is to that person’s benefit to have a team that has the imagination to deal with the roadblocks.
When X suddenly becomes Q.
I no longer refer to myself as the Jack of all trades when it comes to surgery. Now I refer to myself as the utility tool.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 