I work in the Operating Theatre. AMA

[1AnotherOne]

I’m an Operating Department Practitioner working in the private sector.

I work the majority the time in a senior speciality role as a scrub practitioner or surgical first assistant.

Sometimes I work alongside the anaesthetist.

ask me anything!

is every new op/shift a massive bloodbath

I’ve not dealt with dead bodies for a while but I always chatted to them too. I do not talk to my patients when they are asleep. I do talk to them just as they are going to sleep or waking up though even though they wont remember those parts. Things like ‘I’m just hovering this oxygen mask over your face, can you try looking at me? No? Ok that’s ok you’ll feel me pushing the mask firmly and I’m going to support your chin now’ I know they won’t remember but I still like to go through the motions of it

yes it can, you can’t control your body temperature when you’re asleep so we try and keep you warm. Unfortunately operating rooms are quite cold and although we try our best sometimes you do wake up a bit chilly

Lots of different ways. Sometimes we use tourniquets for limb surgeries. We can give injections of local anaesthetic that contain adrenaline to help reduce bleeding. Lowering your blood pressure helps us and we also cut and tie off vessels along the way. Surprisingly blood loss is pretty low in the majority of surgeries.

Hmmm not that I can think of

Not at all. A couple of times I’ve been splashed on the face by pulsating vessels or got a shoe full of blood clots when doing a vaginal hysterectomy but it’s rare.

@Toddlerteaplease all spinal surgeons! A rare breed, which hospital/s? One in the midlands?

This is fascinating OP. I had day surgery this week under GA. There was someone there who was not the main aneasthetist but who was in the theatre when I arrived and was put under. He was lovely and made me feel so comfortable but I didn't understand who he was. I didn't see him again but remembered afterwards. I think he might have been what you are

My question is, what do you think happens to the mind/soul when we are under GA? Has anyone ever said anything unusual or surprising about it to you afterwards?

@CrackedHeels2 yes. East Midlands

Yes he would’ve been an ODP or a nurse trained in anaesthetics. So what I do if I’m allocated to that role 😊 I’m so glad he put you at ease.

Our minds can dream like we would when asleep. Lots of patients carry on talking about what we spoke about before they went to sleep. Most wake up and say ‘that was a lovely sleep!’. I work with an anaesthetist who always asks patients what sandwich they ordered just as they go to sleep. They swear that a patient who goes to sleep thinking about food wakes up hungry rather than nauseous!

When I had my big operation, I had a pump put into my hand when I came round which I pressed for pain relief - I think it was morphine. I remember pressing it loads, but presumably the amount of morphine I could give myself was capped in some way?

Ah, I was thinking of a different hospital that has a range - some great. Still midlands, but west not east.

It’s a PCA (patient controlled analgesia) pump. It locks out for a set amount of time so you can’t press the button continuously. It’s also dosed accordingly to you so you can’t overdo it.

I’ve had various surgeries over the years and following one I had a peek at my notes and saw I’d been given Naloxone. It was the only time I’d been given it post surgery so Google’d it, naturally, and read that it’s given when breathing slows down! Is it normal to be given it, or did I nearly not wake up that time!

Have you ever felt a surgery was unsafe? I worry the private sector doesn’t have the experience/staffing/facilities if there is an emergency?
Would you have a surgery privately or wait for nhs (I.e if you needed gallbladder removed).

Oh I had a op on Friday on my wrist under local why was there 7 ppl in the room seems alot for a hour long op

We wouldn’t do surgeries on patients that we deem high risk.

I have had surgery in the private sector. I am fit and well and had no doubts about it. I would allow any of my friends or family to have surgery in the private sector. I wouldn’t say that the experience isn’t there. The surgeons and anaesthetists are the same ones as those working in the NHS. Most of the staff have extensive NHS experience. The equipment is the same. Emergencies are rare and I’ve been blown away by how my team have dealt with them effectively and calmly. Patient outcomes have always been fantastic.

Whenever I’ve had a GA I get godawful shaking some time afterwards, very painful, chattering of teeth just terrible.

when I mentioned it to a nurse pre op last year she said that I should definitely mention it to the anaesthetist and consultant as can be dangerous ! As it happens I didn’t have the surgery so just wondering why that happens to me.

You were probably taking a little while to come round in recovery. When you’ve been given lots of opiates you can be given Naloxone to reverse the effects of it. I don’t know how often it’s given because I don’t work in recovery

I usually wake up crying for my mum!

This time I didn't, instead I woke and turned to the nurse and told her what a pretty name she had

Hello from a support worker in obstetrics! Hoping to train up to ODP when I'm my kids are a little bit more grown up.

Is there a speciality you prefer? Is there one you prefer to avoid?

I've had minor gynae surgery under GA, and had the unusual circumstance where my boss was the scrub nurse (different hospital where we work, but same trust). Have you had any encounters with your colleagues like that?

When I was a student nurse I did a placement in the day unit. There was a girl who was having a termination and failed to remove her piecing from her genitalia, she wasnt particularly fresh at the time and I remember the surgeon making a derogatory comment about the smell. Have you ever witness similar? I was abit taken back by the lack of professionalism.

4-5 people is about right for a local anaesthetic. Perhaps some were students observing.

I love plastics/cosmetics best!

We will discuss patients at team brief before the list starts. If we recognise someone then we can say. We can ask the patient if they are happy for that person to be there but usually will just swap out/take a break during that case.

good luck with your training should you decide to do it! I loved my obstetrics placement.

When I came round after my knee operation I was jerking my arms around for ages and I could here the staff talking saying maybe it’s the lignocaine? Is this normal? Has made me worried about having the other knee done to be honest. I think they thought I was still out of it but I could hear every word.