Reflections on Growth, Diversity, and Endless Possibilities

Being an operating room nurse is rewarding and challenging. There are times when difficult decisions are made for the betterment of patient care. One time for me was when I was circulating an ENT case and several of the same pan were contaminated. I was told to “roll back,” and that someone would handle the tray. My surgical technologist and I agreed that this tray was vital to the case and should not be left to chance if the next tray was also contaminated. The surgeon argued left and right that it did not matter because it was a clean case, but I reiterated that if it was not important to have these instruments sterilized, then why risk infecting our patient with someone else's bioburden? The surgeon stated he had somewhere to be and this needed to hurry, and I again asked management to sort this out with instrument processing. We did not roll until my sterile tray was confirmed clean/sterile/bioburden-free after the resident had to run to the clinic and pick up a loaner for our case. I had to write an incident report about the whole debacle and ensure that the people in charge were in the loop. The patient already had some questionable fluids in their sinuses; imagine if I would have allowed dirty instruments up there?

Going above and beyond for a patient is not as hard as it sounds. For some, it can be just holding their hand without gloves, and for others, it is the reassurance that I will be with them throughout the procedure. I recently had a trauma crashing in who was alert and oriented x3. Everyone is screaming tasks around to one another and I leaned down and introduced myself. I told him what was happening and that I would do my best to keep him safe. It does not take much to show people you care.

It is often that I am the only black nurse my patients have encountered during their stay, so I make sure they know that I see them and will make sure their needs and concerns are met and heard. One patient that I had needed some clarification about the procedure and did not like how the information was forced on her with no regard for her questions. I did my best to explain the surgery but then called the surgeons to speak with the patient at length for a better understanding. Once the conversation wrapped up, she thanked me for slowing things down so that she could properly process the situation.

Nursing is a career that has too many options to choose from and be mad about it. I have been a nurse for what feels like 30 years but truly have only been an RN since 2009. I am grateful to have been a surgical technologist first and had my OR bearings prior to nursing. Nursing gives you the freedom to try new jobs or specialties all while taking care of people. I stay in nursing while I bake part-time because doing what I love is effortless.