First, I would like to share that the Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre Operating Room team is our Geisinger family.  We are registered nurses, surgical technicians, and patient care technicians. However, whatever formal titles there may be, every person on our team is first and foremost a patient advocate.  When a patient is asleep under anesthesia for a surgery, it is one of their most vulnerable times. Everyone on our team proudly upholds the responsibility of being the voice of the patient when the patient is unable to speak and the protector of the patient when the patient is unable to move. Our focus is always on patient safety, best practice, and providing excellent patient care. We have a phenomenal OR team, and we can't say enough about our perioperative colleagues who care for our patients as they enter our department and prepare for surgery. The Perioperative team obtains a tremendous amount of information from patients and surgeons before the patients enter the OR and during the recovery stages of surgery. Pre-op preparation is key to success in the OR, and our PeriOp colleagues are phenomenal. We are grateful that they make complex processes look easy especially when viewed through the eyes of patients.  The OR, PeriOp,  and Anesthesia teams perform advanced care and procedures all while maintaining a smile and use kind and calming words and gestures to help patients overcome their anxieties, as sometimes fears, related to surgical procedures. As a team, we all strive to support our patients before they enter the OR, during surgery, and when they arrive in the recovery room. It is difficult for patients when they are separated from their families and friends, and this team has a special way of helping patients find their smiles even when they are afraid.

Our daily team huddle takes place in the early morning around 7am. This huddle group includes a variety of OR staff, Anesthesia, surgeons, EVS, and SPD staff. We meet to optimize our multidisciplinary plan for the day, discuss changes in processes, and share information from our team members related to opportunities. Our meeting place is at our control desk which is located next to the individual OR doors our patients enter for their surgeries. There have been many times when patients have passed by our huddles on a stretcher escorted by a member of the OR team and an Anesthesia CRNA as they are being transported to their designated room for surgery…then suddenly, the patient becomes part of our huddle group for a brief moment in time. Patients have joined impromptu huddle conversations and have also been greeted with sudden applause from our team. In moments like that, we are all one. Those moments are special. 

The OR is a very special type of department.  The work this GSWB OR team does every day isn’t easy, but it is worth it, and it is rewarding. When a person becomes part of our GSWB OR team, they commit to our team’s One Thing which is Accountability. This team is a group that shows up every day to help patients and each other navigate through the complex processes and emotions associated with surgery. The GSWB OR team comes together to support each other when situations are challenging and somehow, someone one our team will do something or say something that stops that first tear from falling and creates laughter (most times out loud). Last, but not least, this team demonstrates professionalism when caring for patients and each other. 

As a leader, I am proud to say that every individual on our team has a special power that makes this team a group of superheroes. Others may have a team, we have a GSWB OR family.