Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
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O U T P AT 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 | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4
Return of "You Might Be an OR Nurse If ..."
It's funny how nursing's routines infiltrate our lives.
I
t's been nearly 9 years
since I wrote "You Might
Be an Nurse If...," a list of
34 universal truths about this
thing of ours called surgical
nursing (
tinyurl.com/k4bla73
).
A few funny-then, funny-now
samples from one of my
favorite columns:
• You think the best photo of yourself is the one on your ID badge.
• Your cabinet at home has more of those blue containers left over
from sterile packs than it has dishes. (One has even replaced your butter
container.)
• When you're bathing or showering, you start from the center and
wash out, like you do on a prep.
• You do a better shave prep on the patient than you do on your
own areas that need a shave.
• Multiple pairs of scrubs at home are slowly replacing your other
clothes and you're actually taking them on trips with you as
loungewear.
• You can look at a tissue specimen and start to plan what you're
going to cook for supper that night.
'So true!'
"So true!" many of my readers remarked back then. Since that time,
I've had more traveling OR nurse assignments then I can remember.
Here are a few more quirky habits that seem natural to us but might
seem strange to those on the outside.
You might be an OR nurse if …
you lay out your clothes in the order
in which you plan to put them on.
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