The best kept secret of the OR-part 1

Oh, boy.

Another series.

This one will be the secrets of the OR that your preceptor hasn’t told you.

The OR is many things. It is demanding, and fast-paced, and a steep learning curve, and demanding.

Yes, I know demanding is there twice.

And it is, in fact, the first secret.

The OR demands excellence from all of its workers. From the orderly to the circulator to the scrub nurse to the anesthesia team to the surgeon.

Why?

For the patient who is under anesthesia and has put their trust in us, the OR team.

Is the OR for everyone?

No.

No shame to the ones who are unable to work in the OR.

It isn’t for everyone.

Not everyone can rise to the level of excellence that the OR demands of us.

See, demanding.

The first thought in an OR person’s brain is not when is lunch/break/home time or I don’t want that case, or I had the hard room yesterday, make my coworker do it. It is and it should be how can we take care of this patient.

You have to park your stomach in your lunch box and keep going until you are relieved. You have to not whine when the hours are hard and Becky got to go home early yesterday and Joe never does any work, ever! You have to be aware of the steps of everyone else’s job and can step in if the circumstances demand it, within the scope of your license.

The hours are long, the floor is hard and your back WILL hurt. If you ask others, there is never enough help, and the doctors are demanding, and the charge nurse plays favorites.

None of that matters. Only seeing the patient safely through the steps of surgery matters.

And is our mission.

The OR is demanding. This is the first secret of the OR.