The OR DJ
Hi friends, recently I’ve had a number of people ask about my job. Many of you may not know exactly what I do so I’m here to give you some insight into my work life. First of all, I’m a nurse. More specifically, I’m an OR nurse and I work in surgery. At times it can be very slow, cold and lonely; other times stressful and fast paced, but I try to keep it fun and exciting! We work hard and play harder. The only thing I would change about my job is the early starts. My alarm usually goes off around 4:30am and I may or may not hit snooze 1……or 5 times. But it’s something new and different every day, and that’s what I love about it! Working 3 days a week is also pretty sweet. This post may be a little long and detailed, but I think it will give you a better understanding of OR nursing!
I didn’t start off as a nurse or even in the medical field. I began my college career wanting to get a teaching degree and work at an highschool teacher. I double majored in Adult education and Biology received my BSA from the University of Alabama I thought I would love the career path I chose and land my dream job right out of college. Boy was I wrong! Upon graduating, I felt like having a Teaching degree was almost the equivalent of having a high school diploma. Jobs didn’t even look at your resume unless you had experience…but how are you to get experience if you just graduated and they wont hire you? After literally months of applying, I finally interviewed and got an entry level position at a teaching. I had my own classroom, phone and computer. A big girl job! Yay! I was so excited to decorate my classroom. Also, between graduating and getting this first job, I got moved in with Rick., I knew that I was not meant for the This world. I am glad I got to experience the office life and met one of my closest friends there. During these months of complaining about how much I disliked my job, he suggested a career in nursing. I decided to apply to the BSN program at the University of South Alabama. I interviewed and got in pretty soon after. I made it through the toughest 2 years of my life.
I graduated in 2001 and got my dream nursing job (or what I thought was my dream nursing job) in the OR at one of the most well known hospitals in the world. I was put through an intense year long training program learning different specialties, such as plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, brain surgery, even robotic surgery. I learned to circulate and scrub most cases in this busy 40 OR hospital. (I’ll explain circulating and scrub in a min!). I left that hospital after 3 years on the advice from one of my managers. She said you have to move around in the nursing world to increase your salary. I’ve found this to be true from my experience. Since then, I’ve found my awesome hospital. I do all kinds of cases here, from plastics and bariatric, to spine and orthopedic. I work with some of the top surgeons in the area, even some famous surgeons! It’s always fun to see a camera crew at work.
Every day is a new adventure. There are 2 possible roles for an operating room nurse, circulating and scrub. As a scrub nurse, I mostly work in the sterile area. Before the case begins, I get my schedule for the day and then I can set up my room depending on the surgery. I assess my patient and verify all the paperwork is in order. then circulating nurse bring the patient to the OR with my anesthesia personnel. I make sure all the lines that need to be placed are, whether it be another IV, central line or foley. I count with my scrub tech to make sure what goes in comes out. If you’re a patient, you don’t want the count off. I make sure we have everything we need to perform the surgery safely while remaining sterile. During the surgery I continuously assess the patient, help monitor the procedure, the sterile field. I also retrieve blood, medication or surgical instruments if needed. I keep families updated on their loved ones, I help anesthesia with their needs also. After surgery I ensure the patient is stable and bring the patient to the recovery area. I do all this on top of my most important role of OR DJ…..just k**ding, patient advocate. My patients are all asleep so they are trusting me to fully take care of them physically and medically. Although, I really am the best OR DJ you’ll ever meet.
I didn’t start off as a nurse or even in the medical field. I began my college career wanting to get a teaching degree and work at an highschool teacher. I double majored in Adult education and Biology received my BSA from the University of Alabama I thought I would love the career path I chose and land my dream job right out of college. Boy was I wrong! Upon graduating, I felt like having a Teaching degree was almost the equivalent of having a high school diploma. Jobs didn’t even look at your resume unless you had experience…but how are you to get experience if you just graduated and they wont hire you? After literally months of applying, I finally interviewed and got an entry level position at a teaching. I had my own classroom, phone and computer. A big girl job! Yay! I was so excited to decorate my classroom. Also, between graduating and getting this first job, I got moved in with Rick., I knew that I was not meant for the This world. I am glad I got to experience the office life and met one of my closest friends there. During these months of complaining about how much I disliked my job, he suggested a career in nursing. I decided to apply to the BSN program at the University of South Alabama. I interviewed and got in pretty soon after. I made it through the toughest 2 years of my life.
I graduated in 2001 and got my dream nursing job (or what I thought was my dream nursing job) in the OR at one of the most well known hospitals in the world. I was put through an intense year long training program learning different specialties, such as plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, brain surgery, even robotic surgery. I learned to circulate and scrub most cases in this busy 40 OR hospital. (I’ll explain circulating and scrub in a min!). I left that hospital after 3 years on the advice from one of my managers. She said you have to move around in the nursing world to increase your salary. I’ve found this to be true from my experience. Since then, I’ve found my awesome hospital. I do all kinds of cases here, from plastics and bariatric, to spine and orthopedic. I work with some of the top surgeons in the area, even some famous surgeons! It’s always fun to see a camera crew at work.
Every day is a new adventure. There are 2 possible roles for an operating room nurse, circulating and scrub. As a scrub nurse, I mostly work in the sterile area. Before the case begins, I get my schedule for the day and then I can set up my room depending on the surgery. I assess my patient and verify all the paperwork is in order. then circulating nurse bring the patient to the OR with my anesthesia personnel. I make sure all the lines that need to be placed are, whether it be another IV, central line or foley. I count with my scrub tech to make sure what goes in comes out. If you’re a patient, you don’t want the count off. I make sure we have everything we need to perform the surgery safely while remaining sterile. During the surgery I continuously assess the patient, help monitor the procedure, the sterile field. I also retrieve blood, medication or surgical instruments if needed. I keep families updated on their loved ones, I help anesthesia with their needs also. After surgery I ensure the patient is stable and bring the patient to the recovery area. I do all this on top of my most important role of OR DJ…..just k**ding, patient advocate. My patients are all asleep so they are trusting me to fully take care of them physically and medically. Although, I really am the best OR DJ you’ll ever meet.
5 年 前
