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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
off the nurses' backs. I wish they could be cloned. As long as it's not
that one tech who, in an attempt to score points with the surgeon, waits
until the circulator's on the floor and under the drapes fixing something
before sending her out for supplies the surgeon would never use.
Blessed be the radiology tech, always at our beck and call, and on
short notice, too, because we forgot to call before the case got started. While most of our equipment falls prey to glitches now and then,
your machinery behaves on command and always delivers a perfect
image. It had better. There's no way we're going back to the old days
when we had to deal with X-ray film and developing fluids.
Reprocessors, you rule. What would we do without you? Not surgery,
that's for sure. Maybe you work in the hospital basement, but you're
tops as far as I'm concerned. So when I call down for a particular
instrument and the person answering the phone has no idea what or
where it is, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt: That's probably the
new hire. And when we see wet instruments or torn blue wrap or
trays with missing pieces, we'll know that's the new guy, too.
Last but not least, a barrel of thanks to our surgeons. I love that you paid
attention when I told you my name, even though later I've occasionally
regretted you remembered it. It's great when you're on time for a case,
even though it means you're asking, "What's the holdup?" We appreciate
that you learn so much from other hospitals and want to pass this knowledge on to us by saying, "That's not how they do it at St. Give-Me-a-Break,"
or "St. Perfect always has what I need."
Successful surgery takes a whole team, a family if you will, to
accomplish. I am thankful for all that my extended-work-family has
contributed to my calling as an OR nurse. And also for all the material
they've given me to chatter about in the lounge between cases. OSM
Ms. Watkins can be reached at pwatkins12@comcast.net.
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