What inspired you to pursue Operating Room nursing?
It is interesting because O.R. nursing was not really part of our BSN curriculum - I think there was a 2-day elective for observing in the O.R. I was always interested in the O.R., but I didn’t really know what an O.R. nurse did to be honest. When I showed up to observe, they said that I would get to see an open heart bypass surgery and that the surgeon had given me the option to scrub-in and be in the sterile field if I wanted. I was so excited and scrubbed-in standing in the field with the heart team. It was amazing to see the anatomy in real life after studying it for so long in text books. I think I was attracted from the very beginning to this field. I love rituals and the Operating Room is as ‘ritualistic’ as it gets - I now understand why it’s called a theater - everybody has a role that contributes to the performance; there’s a costume element; and, while it is not Grey’s Anatomy, there definitely is drama. For example, after the patient came off bypass, her heart went into an arrhythmia and the surgeon just said “fib”. Within seconds, he had the internal paddles in his hand and had her heart back into a normal rhythm - it was so seamless that it made it looked planned. Ultimately, O.R. nursing became my inspiration because it allowed me to intervene in a patient’s healing in the most direct and tangible way possible with a real probability of ‘instant gratification’.
How have you grown your career as an Operating Room Nurse?
I started my career as a staff nurse scrubbing all types of cases - Level 1 trauma, simple appendectomies, mastectomies, and even cardiac. I learned the fundamentals of what it means to be a great operating room nurse - what behaviors and strategies make you become personally requested to scrub for an attending - to me, that was so gratifying to hear that an attending specifically asked that I scrub-in for his cases. Over time, I definitely wanted to get my CNOR certification as I do think it validates my experience. But like anything, you absolutely need intellectual curiosity to expand your horizons and learn more. Passion enables that intellectual curiosity for me. I love understanding the disease process that we will be fixing surgically by reading through the patient’s case files. I asked to sit in on pre-op consultations with the patient and his or her family - it is so invaluable to learn and see the human side of surgery - nobody is ‘just a case’ and I think it is very easy to fall into that trap. I tried to set a routine of getting a touch-point with patients coming in for major open surgery that encompassed pre-op (consultation), periop (assisting) and post-op (following up in SICU and step-down). By doing that, I could see how the nurses, especially in post-op, were treating the patients I only intervened with in surgery - even though I was not providing care in the SICU, understanding the care provided was and is an invaluable part of the continuum that I think great institutions establish.
After 4 years of periop staff nursing, I became a manager in general surgery where I took on more administrative tasks including scheduling, performance management, training, and got to sit on our institution’s leadership council that met monthly. But, I still got to spend about 60% of my time in the O.R. scrubbing. I became really intrigued by plastic and reconstructive surgery during this time and one of the surgeons who I worked with encouraged me to pursue an advanced degree, which I did after moving to Southern California. I received my master’s and ACNP certificate and sought out positions in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. While not easy, I was able to do a lot of my electives in the Operating Room and aligned with another Plastic Surgeon who encouraged me to get my CRNFA - he also agreed to sponsor my hours and experience requirements. I loved becoming a CRNFA because of how much more you get to do in the surgical field - I learned suturing techniques, advanced surgical skills and really ‘how to operate’.
When my CRNFA sponsoring surgeon decided to leave academic medicine for private practice, he asked if I would join as his personal First Assist and I could not have been more honored. He joined a prestigious practice in Beverly Hills and it is where I continue to practice today. During my time here, I have expanded my duties outside the Operating Room to include the build out of our MedSpa, including administering injectables. Being able to build a business within a thriving practice, drive my brand forward, and still get 50% of my time first assisting in the Operating Room is about as great of a ‘mix’ as I could have ever dreamed of in a nursing career.
Principles I live by as an Operating Room Nurse:
Opportunity never knocks on the door - you have to find it and have the courage to pursue it
If you let a ‘job description’ define your duties, then it will most definitely limit your possibilities
The chance of not getting the opportunity to do something you really want if you don’t ask for it is 100%
Don’t believe that the essence of surgery is only defined within the walls of the Operating Room - learn the continuum of care even if it’s not part of your role
Find mentors and sponsors. Mentors provide perspective; sponsors provide opportunities
The greatest addiction is ‘comfort’ - if you’re comfortable, you’re probably not learning
