Observation

I'm working on a new certification program which includes testing and all this yucky stuff, and one aspect that I'm starting to work on is observation at hospitals.  I have to do 32 hours total at two different hospitals.  So I'm getting a little bit of a head start at one of my big hospitals downtown today. I'm having to do second shift right now as the one woman who is working with me had to switch to second shift for a few weeks.

Today I was back in clean assembly.  So - after a procedure, they send the set down to dirty decontam where its pulled apart and washed and then put through the washers.  Thats my side - I'm good at that and know it like the back of my hand.  I'm fuzzy once it gets through the washers.

So today my friend Patti laid out 21 instruments and I had to go through an instrument catalog and name them all and me, being a semi overacheiver, listed the length the curve the tip diameters.... I probably made it way harder than Patti was expecting, but I did learn a lot.

Lets put it this way - instruments come in several different classes -- there are graspers, cutters, forceps, clamps and cutters.... Those are the basics.  But - then you open up an instrument catalog and its divided into sections -- General, Cardiac, Gyn, Thoracic, Ortho and on and on.  AND within those sections there are about 10 pages of each of the types of instruments listed above.  So there are retractors that are just for cardiac and forceps that are just for ortho.  Now, Patti has laid out three different needle holders and 2 sponge clamps and 3 ribbon retractors and 5 Debakeys and they're ALLLLLLL different and all listed separately within the 1400 pages of the instrument catalog.  HELPPPPP!  Ok - I admit, I have another friend who was working back on an assembly table by me and I did cheat once or twice.... Shhhh....

Then, after about an hour of trying to figure out what was what, I got to shadow another tech who was working cardiac.  I did some assemble with her and then we went up to 7th floor where they do specifically transplants and cardiac and we worked with a bronchioscope.

That was today.  Tomorrow I go back and I think I'm working sterilizers.  Friday Pattis going to get me up in surgery.  I'm kind of hoping that she gets me into a transplant.  The hospital I'm at is one of the leading transplant hospitals and they do tons of them every day.  We'll see.