The OR Nurse, A Tech’s Best Friend or Worst Nightmare!

It’s Monday morning. You get to work, change into proper scrub attire, and proceed to your designated OR. You walk into your room and spot your circulating nurse for the day. Now, you’re either saying, “It’s going to be a GREAT day!” or secretly weeping at the thought of the entire day with this particular nurse. We, as surgical techs, have all had at least one experience with a bad circulator. These days SUCK bovie smoke! Fortunately, I have been lucky and usually have had an amazing nurse backing me up in the OR. So here’s to you, Amazing OR Nurses! You keep the day running smooth and keep us techs looking just as good as we make you look. Here are some amazing traits these wonderful nurses possess.

Qualities of Amazing OR Nurse:

1. You PRIORITIZE what is needed. Mid-case when I ask for gloves, a light handle cover, and a closing suture … You give me my gloves first, then the light handle cover, then the suture.
2. You verbally COMMUNICATE with your tech. Such as, “Hey awesome surg tech, I’m bringing our patient back to the room now.”
3. When plugging in cords such as suction, bovie, drills, cameras, etc., you TURN THE POWER ON(!!!) and assist in testing said items to make sure they are in working order.
4. At the end of the case, you PUT THE TRASH TO THE END OF THE BED so the drapes can quickly and easily be thrown away.
5. You put sterile unused items away, and CLEAR THE CASE CART so the instruments can be placed there at the end of the case.
6. You PAY ATTENTION to what is going on in the room!
7. You LEARN NEW THINGS and put it to good use.
8. You have ROOM EARS, to know what is needed before we even ask for it.
9. You are CONSIDERATE and RESPECT your tech because we are a team, we are equals, and you don’t try to run the show.
10. You are great with NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. When I give you that look, the stare over the brim of my eye protection, you know exactly what I’m thinking … It’s Almost Happy Hour! Or maybe I dropped my scissors and need a new pair. It’s probably both.

All you amazing nurses out there: THANK YOU! We couldn’t do our job without you. For all my fellow techs, ask not what your circulator can do for you but what you can do for your circulator. We are a team and if you don’t treat your circulator right, your circulator can make your life HELL! A special thank you to my bestie, my favorite OR nurse of all time! We rocked Thursdays and our 8 minute turnovers!

Comment below to let me know your best and worst circulator stories … these are always interesting!