BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
1 2 4
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 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4
toward noon. The staff needs a break in the worst way. The circulator
is planning an expedition in search of a liter of room-temperature ster-
ile water and 6 straws.
Storm clouds are breaking
Back in OR 3, an instrument is missing. Sterile processing says they
don't have it, it's been marked as pulled. For which room and case?
You can hear their shoulders shrugging over the phone. Glancing at the
surgeon, you see dark clouds forming overhead.
The winds are picking up in OR 1 now, and here comes the lightning
and thunder. It's Dr. Stormy Weather, standing outside wondering why
no one has notified him that the room's running about 30 minutes late.
The charge nurse is on the phone, too, wanting to know how much
longer.
In OR 5, Dr. So What If I'm Late shows up for his first case without
apology or explanation for the delay. You can see the windows frosting
up over his attitude. The horizon hasn't cleared for OR 1 yet. When their
case finally finishes, turnover time takes longer than usual. Something
about extra equipment needed for the next case that no one bothered to
alert the staff to. A funnel cloud is seen touching down.
Sun'll come out tomorrow
Take shelter if you have to in the face of all this weather, but as every-
one knows, if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it'll
change.
As cold as OR 5 got, there were only scattered flurries, not a bliz-
zard, and the case actually finished earlier than scheduled. A storm-
chasing charge nurse located the instrument that OR 3 needed in OR
5's cabinet. OR 1 did see a tornado touch down, but it went back up
just as quickly. Once the case got started, the clouds parted for sun-
