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management classes.
We have your best interests in mind. The repeated stress of sur-
gery could cause you some real harm eventually. You could have a
heart attack right in the OR! (And when you fall to the floor, we'll
stare in awe for a moment before coding you.) Or maybe, because of
your rage, one of your nurses could be shaking in fear so much that
she accidentally hits you in the head with the light.
• Tears of a team member. A warning: There's no crying in the OR. Cry
in this arena and the lions will eat you alive. If you can't take the heat,
then get away from the cautery. However, if you do one day happen to
break down in tears, it's highly likely that you'll extract tears from
someone else in return one day. Go figure. I feel really bad if I'm the
one responsible for making a co-worker cry. But that time a rhymes-
with-witch of a general surgeon lost it on my account, I felt … well …
vindicated, for an ancient incident in which a surgeon stomped all
over this one-time-brand-new nurse. That was definitely worth a visit
to the administrator's office for a good talking-to.
• Staffing the no-help desk. Did I ever tell you about my dream job? It's
materials management. I think it would great to finish up my nursing
career being in charge of the supplies instead of running for them.
I'd spend my days counting packages and putting stickers on them,
ordering supplies and then telling you they're back-ordered. I think
the best part would be hiding the things you're looking for in places
only I know where to look for them, so you have to depend on me to
find them. It'll be like a scavenger hunt every day for you! We would
have so much fun. Then I could spend the rest of the day trying to
figure out the mysteries of surgical behavior. OSM
Ms. Watkins can be reached at pwatkins12@comcast.net.
You can read her past columns at osmag.net/vKB5pU.
