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M A R C H 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
research to see if cloth scrub hats come in wool or corduroy, with ear
flaps.
• You have to buy another pair of Danskos, a size bigger, to fit over the
heavy wool socks you've started wearing.
• Every OR is equipped with 2 forced-air warming blowers, 1 for the
patient's blanket and the other for the anesthesia provider's hands.
• You beg to circulate on the pediatric and burn cases, since you get to
turn up the thermostat a bit on those.
• Just because you get off at 1500 doesn't mean you're on your way
home. You have to put the multiple layers of clothes back on first, then
resuscitate your car, then dig it out of the snow and ice it's encased in.
• Dry air means static electricity. You've been shocked so many times by
touching a doorknob that you begin to believe you know how a code
patient must feel once you get them back.
• It's a good thing the dress-up holidays are over and there are no func-
tions to attend, because snow boots don't do it with the little black dress.
• You've stayed overnight with the co-worker who lives close to the hos-
pital so many times, they've included you in their most recent family por-
trait.
• Out of the 6 cases posted to your room, 5 of them are open reduction-
internal fixations to ankles or arms of patients who've taken spills on the
ice.
It hasn't taken me long, but I've grown to dislike those little, innocent
snowflakes that a thousand years ago used to thrill me with the possibility
of closing school for the day. I hold a grudge against the ice in beverages,
for the slips and falls that have sent me sprawling on the ground (luckily,
nothing but my pride has been hurt). Nothing personal, winter, but I think
I'll like you better once summer is sweating us.
OSM
Ms. Watkins can be reached at
pwatk ins12@comcast.net
.
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