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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
others, such as "prep," "stat" or "code," but since it wasn't directed at
her, much less uttered by the surgeon, the discipline form doesn't
seem warranted. Perhaps asking to choose different music (with a
beat the doc can still dance to) would have been a better solution.
My real concern here is, how did the circulator have the time or
attention to count the number of four-letter words? When I'm circulating, I'm so busy I can't follow anything that isn't a surgeon's request or
a patient's monitor. If it's not patient-care related, iTune it all out.
D
ear Paula,
One day a stranger with a
clipboard shows up in
the OR where I'm circulating.
She's there to audit my performance. I asked the young
lady how long she'd worked surgery. Never, she said. She'd been an
oncology nurse for a year and
before that was getting her master's. How can a new graduate with no OR experience audit a field she
knows nothing about? It's like when the nurses who write the standards
we have to follow haven't worked in an OR since the '90s. It makes me
wonder, who's in charge here?
— Watching the Watchers
D
ear Watching,
Back when I was an OR educator, another nurse snapped that
those who can't handle surgical nursing anymore get a sit-down
job or teach. At the time I was insulted, but now I see his point.
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | O C T O B E R 2013