Paulina Vo – Clinical Nurse II – Operating Room
Name: Paulina Vo
Title: Clinical Nurse II – Operating Room
Entity: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
What I love most about the OR is the teamwork that is required to do cases. Everyone has an important role: Anesthesia, surgery, circulating nurse , scrub nurse/tech, anesthesia techs, perfusion, etc. and without one of them, we cannot do the cases. Specific to nursing, it is nice having a partner for every single case where you work together and can lean on each other for support when needed. On our CVI team, we have such an amazing group where we have lots of support whether it’s from each other, our clinical advisors or even our fabulous boss, Sue! What I also love about the OR at BIDMC is that as a nurse, you have the opportunity to be the circulator or scrub so it gives you a lot of variety in your week. One day you could be scrubbed into a CABG and the other day circulating in an open AAA repair! Another pro in the OR is the extra income from being on call and there is as much opportunity to give away your call as there is to pick up call on this team.
To be a part of the CVI OR is special because the feeling you get when a tough emergency ends well is the best and knowing you were a part of the team that helped save someone’s life is even better!
Our day in the CVIOR starts at 6:45am where we start setting up for our assigned case (cardiac, vascular or thoracic). If you are the scrub, you are working on picking things needed for the case on the field and then scrubbing in to set up the table. If you are circulating, you are seeing the patient in pre-op, grabbing medication/equipment/implants, checking consents and helping the scrub set up. As soon as the pt comes into the room, you would focus on documenting the case and helping the surgical team prepare the pt for surgery such as prepping and positioning. During the case, the circulator will assist in opening things for the sterile field and document while the scrub hands instruments to the surgeons and assists as necessary. Breaks are mandated in the OR so circulators have a morning break around 9am and lunch breaks are scheduled anywhere from 11-2p where your relief will come in and relieve you from the case and you also receive a break at 2p if you work a 10hr or 12hr shift. Your schedule in the OR can be flexible which is very nice as well! You can work 5x 8hr shifts, 4x 10hr shifts, 3x 12hr shifts, or a combination of 2x8hr + 12hrs. On our team the flexibility is great which is why CVIOR at BIDMC is also the best!
If you’re planning on joining the CVIOR I recommend coming by to shadow for a day or two to see if you’re interested! Surgery is interesting to most but every service line has a different flow/pace/vibe so it’s nice to see which fits best. If you’re coming from a floor, just know OR nursing is very different from any other nursing specialty and it will take a while to learn since a lot of nursing skills aren’t transferable. On the CVIOR team we are always good about teaching our PNEP/Newcomers and putting their education first in order to ensure we build a strong team which is also why I love it here!
