surgeon, anesthesia provider and scrub tech will be. Bad news: I
receive papers telling me what I screwed up in charting 2 weeks ago.
That must have been the shift when I had 8 15-minute cases followed
by the femoral neck and malleolar fractures on the right leg of that 97-
year-old woman.
Now the stealing, pillaging and plundering starts for equipment and
supplies. I have a sequential machine, arm boards, a harmonic, my
favorite tourniquet and 2 double-long-and-wide Ace wraps that I
hid yesterday just in case. Oh, crap: I don't have any 1015 drapes.
Room 1 is going to need 1 of my 2 Aces. Time to phone a friend.
"Hi, Bob, nice shoes you wore in today. Say, listen, do you have an
extra 1015 drape?"
"Maybe."
"Well, I'm looking at the schedule, and I see where you're going to
need one of those big Aces that we've been out of for 2 weeks. I'll
trade you an Ace for a 1015."
"Okay, deal."
"Perfect, I'll even meet you halfway down the hall."
Quid pro quo. I love it when a plan works out.
Do what you gotta do
Every day you learn something new in the OR. Turns out I've been prep-
ping the operative site for carpal tunnels wrong for 30-plus years. The sur-
geon was kind enough to demonstrate for me the proper technique. I did-
n't quite know how to thank him for taking the time to set me straight.
Today's one of those days when you won't get a break or time to eat
lunch. No problem — I hardly miss those 15 minutes I would have
wasted getting water and going to the bathroom. But I do need to step
away for just a minute to refasten my safety pins.
OSM
Contact Ms. Watkins at pwatkins12@comcast.net.
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