A P R I L 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 7
Practical Jokers
Nothing's more fun than pulling a good prank on your co-workers.
S
urgery is serious business, yes, but that doesn't mean you can't
have a little fun on the job. I assure you that no patients were
harmed in the pulling of these 4 sophomoric pranks.
• False alarm. A first assist who has a knack for voice imperson-
ations mimicked me and my Arkansas drawl calling for turnover help
on our overhead paging system. All of a sudden, the door to my OR
suite opened and 2 orderlies came barreling in with a mop and
stretcher. The room's inhabitants all looked up at the same time. The
poor orderlies stopped dead in their tracks, then slowly backed out
and closed the door quietly. Fortunately, the surgeon had a good sense
of humor.
• Thump. Our ORs have 2 doors,
a main entrance and another that
goes into a substerile room and
then exits into the hall. We prefer
people use the substerile
entrance, but sometimes a case
warrants a "DO NOT ENTER" and
we lock that door. But people get
in a hurry about something and
they forget. They hit the door at a
pretty good clip and the locked
door makes a fairly loud thud.
"Wow," I said, "doesn't that sound
like a bird hitting a glass patio
door?" Now, when someone hits
Behind Closed Doors
Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR