It’s PeriOperative Nurses Week!

This is the week that celebrates us in the healthcare world.

It is November 12-18.

We are the ones who sometimes aren’t even at the hospital while we are still on shift.

We are the ones who are dismissed as not a real nurse because “your patients are asleep”. Okay, floor nurse, you memorize the 500+ different instruments, the oodles of equipment, the scads of positioning aids, hold in our heads the many different tables, how to use them and their weight limits, know how to position for hundreds of different surgeries, and can think 10 steps ahead of the surgeon and have what they need ready to give to the field if they ask for it. AND remember what instrument trays there are in the department AND where that specific instrument is. And how to break it to the surgeon that that instrument know longer exists. But you have to have an alternative plan in mind for the instrument.

Not so cushy now, huh?

We are the ones who troubleshoot our own equipment because the rep is in a surgery downtown, or, you know, it’s a regional rep and that region is vast.

We are able to spot a surgeon tantrum and know how to head it off.

We are the keepers of the scores, regardless of sport, and able to talk knowledgeably about soccer, football, baseball, hockey, basketball, regardless of the season. I’d even give a go at discussing cricket. Especially if it gives the surgeon something to complain about besides turnover times.

We are the ones who have to monitor the OR field and their needs, AND keep an eye on the anesthesia and how the patient is doing, AND know when and who to call when the patient is not doing well, AND think about the next case and the positioning and instrument needs, AND be able to get the blood tubes off to the lab in a timely manner, AND know how to label and collect and send off all manner of specimens. Don’t forget to let the family know how the patient is doing.

We are the cool ones.

That is all.