Wearing Airpods in the OR?

[Kevin Durant]

I work in an OR where most of the surgeons have music playing on speakers overhead. The number with any decent playlists is unfortunately low. Would it be frowned upon to have airpods in (even just one) if I can still hear my monitors and OR staff? I could stealth it under the bouffant

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[woopedazz]

You should write a concerned letter to admin about how music in the OR distracts from patient care. That way nobody will be forced to listen to their playlists. You win.

Joking aside, why is it that personal earphones are frowned upon? But paying absolutely no attention to a patient due to distractions that you share/force upon others is free game. It's weird.

Shout out to one of my previous attendings who during a laparotomy had two iPads and a phone out for the majority of the case: 1 iPad to live-stream his aquarium at home, 1 iPad to shop for second-hand aquarium filters on Gumtree, and 1 phone to call and lowball the sellers on Gumtree and setup a same-day meeting to buy during the arvo list. Like, I get it... You're not required in the room and this is a piss-easy case, but still...

Somehow that is acceptable, but a single earphone might impair function. Who decides this ****?

 

[AdmiralChz]

Seems like an awful idea, especially if you are trying to hide it under a bouffant. Way too many distractions currently in the OR as it is. But I can’t tell if you are being serious with a 3 AM post...?

What would you want to listen to?

 

[chocomorsel]

Seems like an awful idea, especially if you are trying to hide it under a bouffant. Way too many distractions currently in the OR as it is. But I can’t tell if you are being serious with a 3 AM post...?

What would you want to listen to?

I did it when I was studying for boards. Podcasts. Medical podcasts. One ear only. Didn’t try to hide it. Didn’t care really because I could still hear around me. I honestly can’t see how this is a problem. Especially when music is so loud in some rooms anyway.

But I guess it depends on the place.

 

[Man o War]

I wouldn’t.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Let me put it this way - If I saw a resident or CRNA doing that I’d blow a gasket. Good luck protecting yourself at the medical staff level if something happens. And of course no one feels like it’s distracting... until it is.

 

[deleted697535]

I work in an OR where most of the surgeons have music playing on speakers overhead. The number with any decent playlists is unfortunately low. Would it be frowned upon to have airpods in (even just one) if I can still hear my monitors and OR staff? I could stealth it under the bouffant

I don't really see a problem with it. I'd do it myself but I'm usually trying to snooze off the second bottle of wine from the night before and my playlist would keep me awake

 

[TheLoneWolf]

No. Peds attending used a line "optics would be bad"

 

[sevoflurane]

I have partners that wear earpods all day long- just one ear. I could care less.

 

[Twiggidy]

If you’re in PP I’d say “do you” in academics I may not because you’re supposed to set an example. I know my logic seems a bit hypocritical

 

[DrOwnage]

Amazon product

A lot of people at my shop wear bone conduction headphones like these ^^^. You can still hear ambient sound through your ears but listen to anything else through conduction.

 

[sevo00]

would avoid it

 

[partydoc]

I'll do it sometimes if I'm calling into a meeting but still running rooms

 

[Silo004]

I have partners that wear earpods all day long- just one ear. I could care less.

If you were supervising someone and you saw that they had headphones in, how would you react?

 

[Propofool123]

If you were supervising someone and you saw that they had headphones in, how would you react?

We have CRNAs at my institution who wear Bluetooth earpieces in one ear in the OR. I don’t think I’ve heard of any attending saying anything to the CRNAs about it.... but maybe that tells you more about our attendings than anything else.

 

[pjl]

If you were supervising someone and you saw that they had headphones in, how would you react?

They would be removed.

 

[caligas]

In PP, if one is continuing to be vigilant and responsive to the surgical team and staff, nobody would give a $hit about one ear pod.

 

[anaesthetic]

.

 

[Lecithin5]

Nope. Analogously, driving while listening to speaker music is okay, but it is well established that driving with headphones is inadvisable and unsafe. Secondarily, as mentioned above, the optics look bad.

 

[OTCAwesome]

I understand the temptation. I see CRNAs bring in their laptops and iPads all of the time. I have to be okay with it for sociopolitical reasons but personally wouldn't want that for myself.

I treat my patients how I would want to be treated, and there are enough distractions in the O.R. in my opinion. For long cardiac cases, I watch the surgery and optimize workflow for coming off CPB/ICU transport efficiently. Not gonna say I never check texts or emails, but I am zoned in most of the time. I've seen enough bad things happen in <20 seconds.

Not that we give a crap what surgeons think anyway, but it's very easy to send the wrong message and would be indefensible if something catastrophic happens while being distracted. The cardiothoracic guys here are very professional (and great surgeons), and they expect the same level of professionalism from us. As much as we'd like to think that nobody is paying attention to us, they all are. Just pay close attention to what they say about your colleagues when nobody's around. Chances are they're talking about you too.

You're in the room while on bypass?

 

[deleted547339]

As an outsider, I can say I’d be pissed if I knew my anesthesiologist had earbuds in.

 

[Justice4all]

As a physician, the playlist should be the least of your concerns. No single airpods, music during induction or extubation.
Most lay people don’t think of us as physicians. Don’t give them more ammunition

 

[Velefunt]

Somewhat different situation, but my team (surgeon, PA, surg tech & anesthesiologist) all wear earplugs to protect our hearing during joint replacements. We can all hear fine during the case, but it's a small measure to protect our hearing (nobody likes tinnitus). My old gig, we use to wear sound-dampening ear muffs during ESWL for the same reason.

 

[2Fast2Des]

Why is this even a discussion... Wearing headphones during a case is just plain wrong and unprofessional. This is coming from a millennial. In residency, one of the juniors would do his notes in the ICU with his headphones on in full view of patients, family, nurses, etc. Not a good look for a physician period.

ESWL though some kind of hearing protection is probably a good idea, it's pretty dang loud, especially for the pt who is unwittingly right next to machine

 

[AdmiralChz]

Surgeon: “You know Dr. X, anesthesiologist?”
Nurse: “Yeah, that’s earbud guy right? Always tapping his foot to whatever House music he’s playing?”
Surgeon: “Yeah. How can I not have him?”

Folks already think all we do is sit on our phones, do the crossword/sudoku. Do you really want this added ammunition? Is it worth it? So you can listen to a BS podcast on blockchain, or the latest Chainsmokers song??

One of the mottos for our profession is “vigilance” - there’s no way in hell this helps with that, and only hurts. Think a jury won’t agree? If the music is too loud suck it up and ask them to turn it down so you can hear your alarms. Don’t like the music, ask for a different room. I can’t believe this is really a discussion.

 

[Velefunt]

Why is this even a discussion... Wearing headphones during a case is just plain wrong and unprofessional. This is coming from a millennial. In residency, one of the juniors would do his notes in the ICU with his headphones on in full view of patients, family, nurses, etc. Not a good look for a physician period.

ESWL though some kind of hearing protection is probably a good idea, it's pretty dang loud, especially for the pt who is unwittingly right next to machine

Yeah, the patient, although under GA, also got a pair of ear muffs.

 

[deleted162650]

I hate when I have to crank up my AirPods to drown out the sound of the lithotripsy machine.

 

[narcusprince]

Not acceptable. I take my role as an Anesthesiologist as a defender of my patient. No way should this behavior be tolerated. I would ask Dr to correct said behavior otherwise its time to move on. Their are specialities where you can do this. Radiology is one.

 

[Velefunt]

I hate when I have to crank up my AirPods to drown out the sound of the lithotripsy machine.

You need some AirPod Pro's - they have noise cancellation.

 

[deleted162650]

You need some AirPod Pro's - they have noise cancellation.

Sweet. Are they pretty good at cancelling out the pulse-ox?