Operating Room Attire

[Block-Buster]

I'm so sick of being mandated to wear these ridiculous bouffant caps. Does everyone here have to wear them or are some of you allowed to wear your own cloth caps or the disposable paper caps? I saw this statement: A Statement from the Meeting of ACS, AORN, ASA, APIC, AST, and TJC Concerning Recommendations for Operating Room Attire and it gave me some joy and hope for the future.

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[drmwvr]

I'm so sick of being mandated to wear these ridiculous bouffant caps. Does everyone here have to wear them or are some of you allowed to wear your own cloth caps or the disposable paper caps? I saw this statement: A Statement from the Meeting of ACS, AORN, ASA, APIC, AST, and TJC Concerning Recommendations for Operating Room Attire and it gave me some joy and hope for the future.

Great, I guess. Nice to see these groups (AORN, JC) getting schooled by the ACS. But in the grand scheme of things, kind of rearranging deck furniture on the Titanic.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Next time the infection control nurse administrator comes around telling people to tuck their ears under their head, and preyending she is the head cock, I'll show this to her.

 

[Psai]

I don't mind putting a bouffant above the cap and tying it so it doesn't get in my way. But I'm not tucking my ears, I use those constantly to listen to my machine and monitors. It's a patient safety issue and it's a completely absurd demand.

You can tell where their priorities lie when you ask them to do things that actually affect infection rates like prewarming patients in preop or administering eras meds prior to going to the OR. It would be easier to build the titanic in preop than to get those nurses to put a damn barehugger on a patient.

 

[dragonark]

I love the bouffant (I'm a dude). I get some pretty bad hat hair with any other option.

 

[San Marzano]

I don't mind putting a bouffant above the cap and tying it so it doesn't get in my way. But I'm not tucking my ears, I use those constantly to listen to my machine and monitors. It's a patient safety issue and it's a completely absurd demand.

You can tell where their priorities lie when you ask them to do things that actually affect infection rates like prewarming patients in preop or administering eras meds prior to going to the OR. It would be easier to build the titanic in preop than to get those nurses to put a damn barehugger on a patient.

The preop nurses at my place insist on coercing the patient to go to the bathroom one more time right after I finish my interview and I'm ready to roll them back. Pretty sure the 5 minute semi-naked trip to the bathroom negates any pre-warming effect the bair hugger may or may not have had on their body temperature. Whoever this Bair guy is that invented the hugger is probably laughing really hard right now with all the money that is constantly rolling into his bank account.

 

[deleted162650]

I love the bouffant (I'm a dude). I get some pretty bad hat hair with any other option.

 

[DocVapor]

We can wear bouffant caps or disposable skullcaps alone. Only way we can wear cloth caps is to put a bouffant over it. No long sleeves other than scrub jackets. We're trying to get things loosened up. There might be movement on allowing us to wear logo'd softshell jackets or vests into the ORs if they aren't worn outside the hospital.

 

[dragonark]

View attachment 232929

No way man. I've definitely had adult relations with women. Lots, in fact.

 

[dannyboy1]

you could wear your jeans in the operating room with zero effect on any infections. Seriously, the first thing my scrubs see in the morning is the male locker room followed by multiple trips to the bathroom throughout the day. How sterile do you think they are ?

 

[nimbus]

Next initiative to be pulled out of their a** will be eyebrows. All eyebrows, whether they are bushy or on fleek, will be considered an infection risk and a threat to patient safety despite no supporting data. Soon we will be required to shave them off or cover them with tegaderms

 

[nimbus]

The preop nurses at my place insist on coercing the patient to go to the bathroom one more time right after I finish my interview and I'm ready to roll them back. Pretty sure the 5 minute semi-naked trip to the bathroom negates any pre-warming effect the bair hugger may or may not have had on their body temperature. Whoever this Bair guy is that invented the hugger is probably laughing really hard right now with all the money that is constantly rolling into his bank account.

And how often are these bathrooms cleaned?

 

[vector2]

And how often are these bathrooms cleaned?

You know that semi secret bathroom everyone has in the back of the ORs near where they keep the C-arms and ortho equipment? I tried to walk in ours yesterday and before I even made it through the door my eyes started watering and I almost passed out. Some joker must've had a gallon of refried beans chased with a tray of week old sushi then decided to go Andy Warhol all over the porcelain. It was so bad I thought I was gonna have to call the hazmat team and put us on diversion for trauma, but thank the sweet lord his ears and arms are covered so no "squames" contaminate the patient.

 

[Onefellswoop87]

So the cloth caps are an issue cause AORN says it carries infection from one patient to another? Why can I wear a disposable bouffant or disposable skullcap the entire workday? Should i change it in between every room? What about my scrubs? Why can I go from pre-op to the OR back to pre-op? Great, now I need to change to fresh scrubs between every patient interaction. Or Hibicleanse shower between all the rooms then fresh scrubs and a new bouffant? Oh god where does it end?

 

[nimbus]

Whoever this Bair guy is that invented the hugger is probably laughing really hard right now with all the money that is constantly rolling into his bank account.

Scott Augustine invented and sold the Bair hugger to 3M. He then invented a competitive product, the Hotdog, which does not use forced air. He is probably laughing.

 

[Psai]

You know that semi secret bathroom everyone has in the back of the ORs near where they keep the C-arms and ortho equipment? I tried to walk in ours yesterday and before I even made it through the door my eyes started watering and I almost passed out. Some joker must've had a gallon of refried beans chased with a tray of week old sushi then decided to go Andy Warhol all over the porcelain. It was so bad I thought I was gonna have to call the hazmat team and put us on diversion for trauma, but thank the sweet lord his ears and arms are covered so no "squames" contaminate the patient.

NEJM - Error

Next thing you know they're gonna want to swab our rears and put on special antibacterial diapers

Scott Augustine invented and sold the Bair hugger to 3M. He then invented a competitive product, the Hotdog, which does not use forced air. He is probably laughing.

Doctor Warns Against Some Uses of Surgical Device He Invented

He's publishing data to argue against his own invention. This man is living the american dream.

 

[Noyac]

We can wear bouffant caps or disposable skullcaps alone. Only way we can wear cloth caps is to put a bouffant over it. No long sleeves other than scrub jackets. We're trying to get things loosened up. There might be movement on allowing us to wear logo'd softshell jackets or vests into the ORs if they aren't worn outside the hospital.

We have the jackets. They are fantastic. They are the typical soft shell kind. They go in the hospital laundry and are returned to our office for use. The key is, they can’t be the pilling kind like fleece. It must be a smooth surface. We have even worn them during our jc visit and they met their standards.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Doctor Warns Against Some Uses of Surgical Device He Invented

He's publishing data to argue against his own invention. This man is living the american dream.

...and he emails me about two times a month to tell me about it or ask for me to invest in his newest product. I'm so sick of his emails.

 

[Monty Python]

AORN and those "evidence-based best practices" organizations would have had a cow seeing the not-infrequent conditions of military trauma ORs overseas. Many of the patients I received from downrange at the Army hospital in Landstuhl Germany had undergone their initial stabilization surgery in very autere and filthy environments. To my knowledge the patients' infection rates at Landstuhl and later at one of the major US military medical centers were unremarkable.

Here's a representative image of typical OR attire. Note the uncovered military uniforms worn in from outdoors, lack of head covering, lack of face mask (even by someone over the sterile field), etc. Yes these are Brits but germs don't differentiate between nationalities.

 

[pgg]

I love the glove on the guy's foot.

Combat wounds, especially IED blasts, are so filthy you could probably do the initial washout with gray water and have comparable outcomes.

 

[drrosenrosen]

We used to have the no cloth caps rule, but it was just recently rescinded based on the above article. It's nice.

 

[Man o War]

How funny/sad/pathetic that there needs to be an official statement from doctors to nurses that their policy recommendations should be evidence based using sound science.
Reason number 14,980 anyone with only nursing in their background should only be allowed to practice under the supervision of doctors.