Erica Glenn

11/5-11/7

P. 3

Operating Room

Experience Journal

      I.         Assessment of the Environment

a.    Personnel-

                                              i.     The people in the OR seemed to be very nice. There was a woman, who was there on both Monday and Wednesday, and she was trying to help Francisco and I get to see a surgery. There were a lot of people that it took to set up the OR, all with different jobs and duties. When nothing was going on in the OR, the majority of the people were sitting on their computers chatting.

b.    Services Provided-

                                              i.     The OR provides surgery for people that are in need. They set up the room by sanitizing it and getting all of the tools ready. They provide mainly therapeutic procedures, because the patients have already been diagnosed with what is wrong, and the surgeon goes in there and fixes it.

c.     Equipment-

                                              i.     The OR I filled with tons of tools that are needed for surgery. They need scalpels to cut into the skin, bone saws to cut into the bone, and many other tools. Also, the anesthesiologist has a lot of equipment that they need to watch the vital sign of the patient, and keep them under during surgery.

d.    Technology Utilized-

                                              i.     While in the OR, there was a lot of technology utilized. I believe the most important thing is the anesthesiologist, because they are supposed to watch the patients vital signs and keep them under anesthesia during the surgery. Also, lights and fancy tables, and many other pieces of technology are used in the OR.

    II.         Observation

a.    Health Care Professionals

                                              i.     The Health Care professionals all seemed to be very nice and funny. While I was observing, I noticed that the majority of the preoperative nurses were female, and only the surgeon was male. There were a lot of people in the OR that are there to help the surgeon, and make the surgery go smoothly.

b.    Teaming Skills-

                                              i.     All of the health care professionals have exceptional teaming skills. They all need to help each other in order to benefit and help the patient. When one person didn’t know where a tool kit was, they all worked together and had very good teamwork to find it.

c.     Communication Skills-

                                              i.     All of the health care professionals had pretty good communication. But there was one issue where one lady was trying to find a certain surgeon’s tool kit, and another lady made it very confusing to find it because she did not know where it was. There was a pretty big issue of the communication, because something was missing, and they couldn’t find it. But overall, all of the other people in the OR had very good communication skills.

d.    Safety Procedures-

                                              i.     There are many safety procedures that are necessary in order to keep the OR sterile. Anybody who goes into the actual OR room has to wear a cap, shoe covers, and a mask at least. Everyone has to wash his or her hands and keep everything sterile in order to decrease the risk of infection for the patient.

e.    Therapeutic/Diagnostic Procedures-

                                              i.     While Francisco and I were in the OR, we got to observe a total knee replacement. Although we did not get to go in the actual OR room, we got to stand outside and view it from the window. Obviously the patient had a very bad knee that needed to be replaced, so that is what was happening.

  III.         Knowledge

a.    New Information Learned

                                              i.     I learned that when someone is having a total knee replacement, there is an extreme risk of infection for the patient because it is an open joint. Because of this, Francisco and I were not allowe into the OR, but we got to observe from the window. All of the health care professionals that were inside of the OR had to wear extreme PPE that covered like every inch of their body.

                                            ii.     I also learned that when the surgeon uses a bone saw, it smells absolutely disgusting, and you can even smell it from outside of the room.

                                          iii.     I also learned that there are two different types of shoe covers, and two different types of hair caps (one for male and one for female).

b.    Medical Terminology

                                              i.     TNR- Total Knee Replacement

                                            ii.     OJS- Open Joint Surgery

                                          iii.     OR- Operating Room

                                            iv.     PACU- Post Anesthetic Care Unit

c.     Skills Learned-

  IV.         Evaluation

a.    Personal Experience

                                              i.     While I was in the OR, had a pretty good personal experience. On Monday, Francisco and I got to observe a surgery form outside of the window, which was pretty cool. But then on Wednesday, e didn’t have a very good day because there was a very cool surgery scheduled for 10:00 AM, so we were excited to see that, but the surgeon didn’t arrive until 10:40, and then the patient had to be prepped and everything. Right when we had to leave at 10:55, the surgery was almost ready, and we missed it. So Wednesday was very boring and we were just standing around for a long time.

b.    Educational Value

                                              i.     I didn’t learn very much this week when I was in the OR. I only learned about a bone saw, and a few other things, but nothing of extreme importance.

c.     Professional Value

                                              i.     I enjoyed going to the OR, because I got to see how a real-life OR looks, and how boring it can be if there is nothing going on. I got to see an anesthesiologist working (I am interested in anesthesiology) which I really thought was cool. I also got to see how busy and how much work it takes to set up an OR and prep the patient for surgery.

Learning Report

      I.         What were your responsibilities or duties this week?

a.    I did not have any responsibilities or duties this week at all because we were waiting for a patient to come into the OR for the majority of the time, so Francisco and I were in the PACU with Dorian just observing in there.

    II.         What new knowledge or skill did you learn this week?

a.    I learned that there are two different types of shoe covers, and there are two different types of hair coverers (one for female and one for male). Other than that, I really did not learn anything new while I was in the OR this week.

  III.         What was the best thing that happened at the unpaid work-based learning site this week?

a.    The best thing that happened this week while Francisco and I were in the OR, was that we got to see a total knee replacement surgery on Monday. It was pretty cool, and I really enjoyed seeing it, even though we were standing outside of the window and could barely see anything.

  IV.         What was the worst thing that happened at the unpaid work-based learning site this week?

a.    The worst thing that happened this week in the OR was on Wednesday, the surgeon was late, so we did not get to see any surgery at all. We were waiting around for like literally 30 minutes, because we were told that the surgeon would be here any minute. It was very boring, and we were just standing around doing nothing for a long time.

    V.         If the “worst” was a mistake, how was it corrected?

a.    The “worst” was not a mistake, so there was no way I could fix it.

  VI.         This Week was: Fair

a.    Why? It was fair because Monday was okay, and Wednesday was really boring, so averaged together, my week was Fair.

Experience Record

      I.         Technology Observed:

a.    Fancy Lights

b.    Anesthesiologist computers

c.     Anesthesiologist tubes, wires, and masks

d.    Extremely protective PPE

e.    Other

    II.         Diagnostic Procedures Observed:

a.    None, they already knew what was wrong with the patient

  III.         Therapeutic Procedures Observed:

a.    Total Knee Replacement

b.    We didn’t get to see the other procedure

c.     Patient preparation

d.    Catheter

  IV.         Diseases/Disorders Observed:

a.    Bad knee

    V.         Medical Terminology/Abbreviations Encountered

a.    TNR- Total Knee Replacement

b.    OJS- Open Joint Surgery

c.     OR- Operating Room

d.    PACU- Post Anesthetic Care Unit

Learning Experience Journal

This week, Francisco and I were in the OR. When we first entered, we showed Dorian where the PACU was, and we introduced ourselves to the woman who was working at her computer. She told us that there was no surgery going on at the time, but there would be in like 20 minutes. So Francisco and I went into the PACU and observed a man getting an xray. Then we decided that we wanted to see the preparation of the OR, so we went and watched that. Then the patient was transported into the room, and they prepped her and gave her the anesthetic and then a catheter. Then the surgeon came in and began preforming surgery. We couldn’t see a lot of it from outside the window because a nurse was standing in the way, but we got to see some parts. When the surgeon began using the bone saw, it smelled absolutely disgusting, even from outside of the room. Then it was time for us to go, so we thanked the people and left to the cafeteria. On Wednesday, we entered the OR and introduced ourselves to a man that was working on his computer. He said that there was supposed to be a really cool surgery at 10:00. So Francisco and went into the PACU and observed a man waking up from his foot surgery. He was making really weird noises, and stuff, which was kind of funny. Then Francisco and I went back outside and we heard that it was going to be late because the surgeon and the patient weren’t even here yet.. So we waited for a really long time and kind of talked to the people that were working. Then finally the patient came into the room, and so we got to see her being prepped, but then it was time to go. So Francisco and I thanked the people for having us, and we left and went to the cafeteria.