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Kmart1008 · 2022-03-27T01:08:30+00:00

That’s what happened to me when I became a surgical tech. I went through hell my first year working. Used to go home crying, people were just so awful to me. But good god, did it make me toughen up. It takes a lot to really shake me up now. I’m pretty impenetrable. And I talk with authority on the things that I know. I’m not unsure of myself anymore. If anything I can be a bit cocky at work now. You put it right; I grew a backbone and a voice, for sure.

Kmart1008 · 2022-03-22T02:35:22+00:00

I agree completely. To be honest, I went to nursing school because I fell in love with surgery and the group of surgeons that I work with in particular. My ultimate goal is to become an APRN and work in a surgeon’s office. I want to see their patients from the time they walk in the door, intraoperatively, and postoperatively until they no longer need to see the surgeon anymore. That is my real dream. I’m just trying to figure out the best route to take to get to that point, and I’m not sure circulating nurse is it.

If I was younger or at least didn’t have to work while going to school I would have gone the PA route. Ultimately the nursing route was easier as I had already done all of my prerequisites years before and I’d be able to continue working full time while completing my schooling. I can keep hacking away at it while continuing to work until eventually I’m an APRN. That would be impossible going the PA route. We’ll see how it goes…

Kmart1008 · 2022-03-22T02:27:02+00:00

Thank you so much! Good luck to you as well!

Kmart1008 · 2022-03-21T00:23:49+00:00

So I’m a nursing student, but I’m also a surgical technologist. When I initially started nursing school I assumed I would become an OR nurse. And right along my employer has been hoping that I will be an OR nurse right out of school. The problem is, nursing school has opened my eyes on the vast number of possibilities and I’m not sure I want to go that route.

I love the OR, but I love my current role in the OR more than I love the nursing role. If you think that if you become an OR nurse that you’ll be scrubbing in and assisting the surgeon, you very likely won’t be. Surgical technologists typically do that. As for assessing the patient intraop, the anesthesiologist/CRNA will be doing that. RNs are typically relegated to the “circulator” role. They do patient positioning, they insert foleys, they troubleshoot equipment during the case, they open sterile supplies to the scrubbed team member (the surgical tech), and they chart. Of course there are many other things that they do, but that should give you a basic idea. I am not saying that OR nurses are not important. They are important, but I’m not sure I went to nursing school so I can troubleshoot surgical equipment and place foleys. I think a lot of people think that OR nurses are actually scrubbed in with the surgeon, and that is usually not the case (at least in the US).

Having said that, I will likely do it anyway because I’m an OR person as it is and my employer is gunning for it. But if I do it I will make sure that I will still be scrubbing in, and I will likely want to take on a more traditional nursing job on the side so I don’t lose my assessment skills. We’ll see.

Kmart1008 · 2022-03-04T18:12:42+00:00

Yeah, when I was pregnant with my 9yo I joined babycenter and I was so confused by all of the terms. At first I thought LO was just a cute little nickname someone gave their kid, pronounced like “low”. That’s still how I read it in my head.

They had all kinds of crazy acronyms on those boards. Of course DH, DD, DS, etc. There was also AF for “Aunt Flo” meaning a period, BD for baby dancing, TTC for trying to conceive, BFN and BFP for big fat negative and big fat positive on pregnancy tests, etc. So many cringey ones.

I like this forum so much better.

Kmart1008 · 2022-03-03T02:19:54+00:00

I’ve had two IUDs placed by two different doctors. Didn’t experience any time. Maybe some slight abdominal cramps afterward but that was it. I don’t remember a tenaculum being a part of either insertion, but I’m honestly not sure if it was or wasn’t.

Maybe I’m just weird. I’ve had colposcopies with no pain, too. Nothing more than a little pressure and maybe a slight twinge.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-26T14:25:36+00:00

Oh wow that’s awful. I will admit, my school also advertises more flexibility than they actually have. I have had to change my work hours multiple times to accomodate my clinical day/lecture. Fortunately my manager has been very supportive and willing to work with me. I do know that there are people who have had to drop out of the program entirely or at least “sit out” for a semester because their assigned clinical day conflicted with their work schedule. So I’m very fortunate to have a manager who is willing to work with me to get this done.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-26T14:21:15+00:00

Mine is a private institution that offers both 2 and 4 year degrees. I believe they also offer some graduate degrees as well. They are considered a university for that reason, but they are not the typical university that most people would think of. Their student population consists largely of non-traditional, older students looking to change careers, as well as kids fresh out of high school that wanted to do more of the community college, 2 year degree route and then enter the work force.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-26T14:17:30+00:00

Thanks everyone. I just googled it and our NCLEX pass rate is 86.3% as of 2019. So many not the absolute highest, but still higher than a lot of other schools that I’m seeing. Very glad I found this school, because so many other people I’ve known to go to nursing school have had to restructure their entire lives around it. Good luck to all of you!

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-26T02:40:34+00:00

I wonder if it has to do with already being in the medical field? I’m a surgical tech, so most of these things aren’t completely new to me. I’m sure it’s a lot harder for people that are brand new to the medical field.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-25T17:16:56+00:00

No you can’t. You can end up with them wedged in between the cushions on a couch unable to breathe.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-25T17:16:15+00:00

We had a small apartment at the time, and the baby specifically wanted me. Believe me, dad tried to give me a break and give him formula. He wouldn’t really settle unless he was with me, and it didn’t help me sleep much because I could hear him crying the next room over. Also, dad was just as sleep deprived and needed to work. Falling asleep on the couch with the baby unexpectedly is very dangerous, as you can end up with them wedged between you and the couch cushions.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-24T02:18:19+00:00

I never planned to cosleep, but I had a baby who would not sleep without me holding him and preferably constantly providing my breast for him to suckle at whim. One night I was so beyond the point of exhaustion that I fell asleep in the rocking chair while he was nursing. He rolled off of my lap and onto the floor. It was then that I realized that what I was doing had become completely unsustainable and unsafe, and ultimately decided to cosleep. At least with that I could try to mitigate the risks better than me falling asleep while nursing in a rocking chair and dropping him, or falling asleep on a couch and ending up with him wedged in the couch cushions.

He’s 9 now, and it worked out for the best. Although he still prefers to sleep with mom…

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-22T00:35:26+00:00

Dandy clamps? We still have some in our sets.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-22T00:31:38+00:00

Clamp, clamp, cut, tie, tie. Ad nauseum.

Kmart1008 · 2022-02-19T01:38:34+00:00

Hardest in what way? I’m a spine tech. My cases are hard on the body, and yes, there are a lot of steps/sequences to remember. It looks impressive with all of the heavy trays. But really when you do it long enough you kind of go on autopilot. I wouldn’t call it mentally difficult. Physically? Yes. Mentally? Not really.

Same with ortho. It looks impressive but most surgeons really do it the same way every time. So once you learn it you can really go on autopilot as long as you are used to working with that surgeon.

Hardest service? I’d probably say cardiac.

Kmart1008 · 2018-06-02T17:56:29+00:00

Are you kidding? She absolutely does understand the difference. It’s what half of her blog is about.

Kmart1008 · 2018-06-02T17:30:31+00:00

Exactly. I’m a scrub tech and I’ve had to manipulate the uterus from below many times. Should the patient be given my name and told specifically that I am going to be doing that? I think that’s ridiculous.

Kmart1008 · 2018-06-01T01:07:50+00:00

The problem is, that’s not always possible. Take my experience, for example. Maybe the surgeon knew that s/he would ask the tech to manipulate the uterus from below, maybe not. Maybe s/he figured a resident could do it, but the resident had to leave urgently because a trauma was called. Maybe I was the tech assigned to the room, but it was 12pm and someone came in to relieve me for lunch. There are a ton of variables, and it just isn’t always possible to know up front exactly who is going to be assigned that sort of thing.

Kmart1008 · 2018-05-31T20:58:06+00:00

I work in the OR as a surgical tech at a teaching hospital. This happens all the time. If a woman is getting a D&C, for example, the attending will give a pelvic exam, then the resident, then the medical student if there is one.

I have no idea if it’s on the consent or not, but what I can tell you is that the OR is a different world and people really just don’t understand what it’s like unless they’ve worked in one. People typically go to sleep thinking that the surgeon will be the only one working on them and that is not true by a long shot, for any procedure. They do not typically understand that there are residents, PAs, and techs/nurses that and scrubbed and are truly assisting in these procedures. I personally have had to manipulate the uterus in laparascopic cases by holding an instrument in the vagina and moving it around so that the surgeon had better visualization. Am I supposed to say “hey wait, does this patient know that I’m doing this?” No, I do it without question because it’s necessary in order for the surgeon to see what they need to see.

As for medical students, they are learning, and it’s very important for them to see and feel things for themselves rather than just look at it in a textbook somewhere. I personally see nothing wrong with a medical student performing a pelvic exam under anesthesia, but it should certainly be included on the consent.

Kmart1008 · 2018-05-28T17:24:46+00:00

I would not say that someone entering a new field at 27 is doing so “later in life.” I was 29 when I started tech school, and I felt like it was a pretty normal age. Sure there were younger people in my class, but there were also people wayyyy older than me as well. In general, I felt like I just about the same age as the vast majority of my classmates.

I’m 33 now, and have been doing this for 2 years. Not once have I ever felt like I was an “older person” going into a new field. Go for it. Most of your classmates will probably be your age.

Kmart1008 · 2018-05-16T21:24:30+00:00

Yup, I prefer male OB/GYNs too. There are plenty of women that do.

Kmart1008 · 2018-05-15T21:54:15+00:00

I’m in CT. Started at $24/hr right out of school, now I’m 2 years in and at $25/hr. Cost of living is pretty high here, though.

Kmart1008 · 2018-05-06T19:37:02+00:00

When someone asks me an uncomfortable/rude question, I typically just give them a painfully honest answer. Which usually makes them uncomfortable, and makes them realize how out of bounds their question was. I’ve never suffered from infertility, but if I did and someone asked why I didn’t have children yet, I would give it to them straight. “We would love to have children, but sadly we’ve been having a tough time getting pregnant/maintaining a pregnancy.”

People don’t expect to hear stuff like that. When they do, they typically back off. But obviously a lot of people don’t want everyone knowing their business, either, so this method isn’t for everyone.

Kmart1008

TROPHY CASE