Preface

PREFACE

This manual is intended for nurses who will be training and working in the operating room.

I am a surgeon writing this manual for nurses. Over the years that I have been working in the various operating rooms in Metro Manila, I realized the need for a manual to be written by a surgeon for nurses who will be training and working in the operating room. This is so because since time immemorial, operating room nurses, have often been scolded, if not insulted, by the captain of the surgical team, who is none other than the surgeon. Why this prevalent scolding and insult? My observations are ignorance on the part of the nurses and idiosyncrasy on the part of the surgeons.

Ignorance on the part of the nurses. Many operating room nurses do not possess adequate knowledge of the basic operating room technique when they start participating in operations. This ignorance is usually due to an inadequacy of their training in their undergraduate as well as postgraduate years. Because of this ignorance, they are often times scolded by the surgeons in the operating room.

Idiosyncrasy on the part of the surgeons. Nurses who are knowing of their roles and functions in the operating room may still find themselves being scolded because of their inability to contend with or cope up with the idiosyncrasies of some surgeons. The idiosyncrasies consist of personal peculiarities of surgeons in terms of their operating habit and behavior and in terms of their way of thinking especially as regards how they should be assisted by the nurses. More often than not, the nurses just strive to be familiar with and to cope up with the idiosyncrasies of these surgeons in order to avoid scolding.

I repeat I am a surgeon writing this manual for nurses. I am one among the many surgeons who can scold operating room nurses, but only when this is necessary. I am writing this manual not to insult the operating room nurses, but to help them become better operating room nurses; to help them participate in an operation without having to be scolded or insulted anymore by surgeons; to help them cope up with the idiosyncrasies of the surgeons; and most important of all, to help them stand up and defend their rights and dignity as professional members of the surgical team.

This manual consists principally of three parts. The first part is the basic introduction to an operation. This part consists of seven topics, namely; 1) basic operating room setup; 2) aseptic and antiseptic technique; 3) basic surgical instruments; 4) surgical needles and sutures; 5) stitches and knots; 6) exposure and dissection; 7) the operation and the surgeons.

The first part actually constitutes the manual which I wrote in 1995 with the title “Basic Introduction to the Operation”. Although this manual was primarily intended for surgical trainees, I believe it should be read by all operating room nurses as well. In fact, this manual should be the first thing that these nurses should be acquainted with.

To be able to qualify as members of the surgical team and to be able to assist the surgeons properly and efficiently in their operations, the operating room nurses should be familiar with at least the basic things about an operation.

The second part consists of a description of cancer nursing in the operating room. Operations for tumors which are cancers or which may turn out to be cancers are becoming more and more common nowadays. Hence, the inclusion of this particular topic.

The third and last part of this manual is on nurses as members of the surgical team. Discussed here are what the surgeons expect from the nurse, what the nurses should do and what they should not do.

This manual is not all-inclusive. It can never substitute for the standard textbooks being used in nursing schools. It contains only the basic essentials that operating room nurses should know from the standpoint of the surgeons, who is the captain of the surgical team. The nursing students are advised to stick to whatever textbooks on operating room procedures prescribed by their schools or instructors. However, reading this manual maybe a must before a nurse participates in an operation and has actual encounter with surgeons.

It is my hope that with this manual I will be able to improve the quality of the operating room nurses. It is also my hope that with this manual I will be able to improve the relationship between the surgeons and the nurses. If these two aims are achieved, then it will not only be me who will be happy. The nurse will not be scolded anymore and will be treated professionally. The surgeons will have a better time operating and will have better operations because of good assist from nurses. Come to think of it, the final beneficiary will be the patients in the operating room. This, in the last analysis, is the ultimate aim of this manual.

REYNALDO O. JOSON, MD

1988; 2004