Petrino came to us last October as one of the Periop 101 students. Almost immediately, our agency educator identified her as a "rock star". Petrino had no problem completing the program and was the first periop nurse to do a case by herself. She always made sure that she learned every service and was a quick learner. The surgeons immediately praised her, and complemented her. Petrino was the first to volunteer to take call, and came off orientation before the other students. She doesn't know the meaning of the word no. If we need somebody to take call, stay late, come in early, you name it, Petrino will do it.
She became Dr. Q's go to girl. She did all his cases, stayed late to finish them and volunteered to come in and work with him on days she was off. She took over the position of the 3-9 charge nurse. She has done an unbelievably great job. She has barely been in the OR a year and she can run these rooms, delegate, and handle almost any situation she is presented with.
The OR is a different world, we don't have the interaction that normal bedside nurses have with patients. Recently, Dr. M had a case and we had to delay him massively due to staffing. Petrino looked at me and said, "C'mon girl, you scrub it, I'll circulate it." That is exactly what we did. I looked over at Petrino as the patient was going to sleep, she was assisting anesthesia, and holding the patient's hand for comfort. The patient was so appreciative of her, it made me smile.
She never stops moving, she makes sure every nurse has lunch when she comes in at 11. If they need anything, she is right there. She is a wonderful addition to our OR. I look forward to working with her every day, and she makes me laugh on a daily basis. We all know that is needed in this profession. We are truly blessed to have Petrino working with us.