million uses for 3-inch silk tape, and mix clinical language and profan-
ity over lunch. I know the OR inside and out. I could assist a case in
my sleep (and may have done so, a couple of times on call in the mid-
dle of the night). I've seen it all and done it all, and there's no place I'd
rather be. Maybe you can relate.
Time takes us all out
OR nursing can also be a physically demanding and hazardous occu-
pation. And getting old is a rude insult that your body shouts louder
over time. The unwanted wake-up call is that the end of our days as
OR nurses is something we'll all have to face up to at some point.
Would my knee take me out before my time? After my speechless
shock wore off, I regrouped. I asked my doc, "If I get a total knee, can
I still work in the OR?" He said, "Yes, but you'll be off work for a
while."
OK, maybe I can deal with that. Total knee arthroplasty isn't the
"plasty" I was ready to discuss getting. Knee replacements are for the
older-than-I-am crowd, for the Medicare generation. But, as an OR
nurse, I know what my options are. I just want to haggle, I guess. And
push the envelope just a little further. And make a deal with whoever's
in charge upstairs. (That's the OR way of thinking for you.)
So I've started physical therapy, working really hard and exercising
at home to buff up those muscles and protect my knee. I'm taking a
regimen of anti-inflammatories, and I'll take a steroid injection in
there, too, thanks. Let me do 1 (or maybe 2?) more travel nursing
assignments in a sunny place, and then I'll get my knee done. And the
next time — I hope there is a next time — that I start complaining
about my job in the OR, I'll bite my tongue, I promise.
OSM
Ms. Watkins can be reached at pwatkins12@comcast.net.
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