Best Kept Secrets of the OR- Don’t tell Dorothy but it’s the shoes

Apologies to any Dorothys.

I was sitting and talking with the ladies of the Monday morning grad school writing group when my back flared up again.

Odd, I thought. This was supposed to be over. With all the moving and the stress of the AC going out at the end of July, I pulled a muscle in my upper back. Ouchie. That was 36 hours of misery, no position was comfortable, neither lying nor sitting nor reclining. Every time I relaxed enough to sleep, my back would spasm.

I’ve been in nursing for a long time. I started as a CNA in 1998, became an RN in 2001 on the med surg floor, and moved to the operating room. The work and stressors are the same. Moving, and pulling, and pushing, and lifting heavy, and getting heavier by the minute, patients. Not to mention the stress of the last 5 years. Going back to grad school for my PhD AND the covid pandemic. But I’ve been managing to duck back pain this entire time. Apparently losing AC for 3 days and moving and removing furniture and equipment was enough.

It’s been 2 weeks. On a routine medication for inflammatory and a muscle relaxant that I only take on the weekends because of call.

Back to today. I was in the office, at the desk, when my back started twinging.
And then I remembered the first adage of operating room nursing, if your back hurts it’s the shoes.

What is equivalent to shoes in my new life as a night call nurse who is also a PhD student and spends a lot of time on research assistant Mondays in the car (14 hours with commute and work hours)?

My office chair.

We bought this office chair in 2020 and I’ve sat in it every day since.

I get up and move around but over time? Yeah, my ass has been in this chair many, many, many hours.

Light bulb moment.

I couldn’t get to Staples soon enough to buy a chair. And, with my current back situation, pay to have them assemble it.

If your back hurts, consider the simple things that may be contributing to it.

If you are an OR nurse or tech, make sure to purchase new shoes yearly. Or at least have 2 pairs and rotate them.

Your back will thank you.