BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
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• Where do all the scrubs go?
The black hole that claims the occasion-
al missing sock must also have quite the collection of scrubs, because
hospital laundries and linen service companies never seem to send
enough to outfit the entire staff for the day. You'd better get to the
locker room early if you want to be dressed for the OR. Given the
holes and torn pockets you sometimes find in them, I'm thankful
they're covered by gowns most of the time.
• How protective is that barrier?
Standard precautions dictate the
wearing of personal protective equipment to shield employees against
patients' contaminants, and vice versa. In addition to donning gloves
and a mask, we drape a yellow, filmy, gauzy gown over our scrubs. I
often wonder what's in that miracle gauze. If I can see right through it,
how protected am I? Also, how useful is it in the OR if we're also
wearing it to transport patients, in the corridor outside, in sub-sterile,
and everywhere else?
• Why hasn't this been invented?
HD has made the trip from living rooms
to the OR. Why can't the universal remote? Yes, a remote control for
everything: OR table, towers, C-arm, fluid waste collector, cautery, every-
thing turned on, off, up or down at the touch of a button from across the
room. Maybe it could even let us move and steer equipment, like toys!
• Are cords tangling themselves on purpose?
The jungle of cords that
power surgical technologies are a roadblock
and a hazard. Nothing in the OR, not equip-
ment nor a circulator in a hurry, can clear
them in a single bound. In the circulator's
case, hopefully no one's watching when the
floor breaks her fall. But while she's down
there, she should take a moment to marvel at
how quickly the cables she separated and
Director
Ambulatory Surgical Center
A multi-specialty ASC in Sheridan, Wyoming
Established 2005
Send resume & salary history to:
sheridansurgery2014@gmail.com
Competitive pay, benefits & productivity incentives
A historic Western town at the base
of the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming,
halfway between Yellowstone Park &
Mt. Rushmore - Four seasons, great
schools & outdoor opportunities
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