The operating room, much like a healthy immune system or central air conditioning, runs by many coordinated moving parts, generally out of sight. Unlike most areas of nursing the rewards are not immediate, nor from patients themselves. A patient expressing appreciation, or showing relief from distress, or demonstrating an achieved goal- these are the privileges of most nurses. An OR nurse performs her duties essentially behind a curtain, unseen except by colleagues.
I want to shed some light on what this veteran brings to patients undergoing surgery.
One morning recently I had the opportunity to observe surgeries. The first patient was under light sedation, awake and comfortable. She was lying prone but probably not relaxed enough to sleep. Mid-procedure, the surgeon started chatting with a team member, not about the surgery, but making casual conversation as colleagues do. Concerned that the patient may be confused by the topic or distressed that the conversation with her had stopped, Pam called out to her by name, asking how she was doing, ascertaining that she was asleep. She stepped in, assuring the patient's dignity was addressed, and, by demonstration, role-modeled what is professionalism, through and through.
The moment a patient is wheeled into the OR Pam is hands on. That is, hands on the patient, reassuring by the most powerful and trustworthy means- touch, complementing information she calmly gives about what is being done, and what the patient can expect to experience. Anesthesia may erase the memory of these critical ministrations, but the body takes them in and fares better by the reduction of stress of the unknown. Patients are likely very anxious about the procedure, and its aftermath. Pam knows this, that at one's most vulnerable a voice and warm hands provide an anchor.
Pam has been called, by a peer, "the cornerstone of the OR" in a certain specialty, navigating it through a long period of instability. She accepted the role because "no one else would take it", during years of locum tenens, assuring the steady quality of care in the OR. Pam is the essence of calm, competence and compassion. Driven by concern for patient advocacy, she knows and carries out the best of what nursing can be. Anyone facing surgery wants Pam in the room. Hands down.