Most of us dreams of becoming the boss of the bosses, I mean, we always envision ourselves on the top. We want to fulfill the 5th stage in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which is the Self-Actualization stage less do we know that in attaining that, we have to deal with such great responsibilities. Experiencing the shoes of Tarlac Provincial Hospital – Operating Room’s Head Nurse for a day made me remember one line the movie, Spider-Man that says “With great power comes great responsibility…”
Our exposure is tiring yet full of amazement and fun. Prior to our duty days, our anxiety level was increasing every hour due to the fact that we did not have our duty in the OR for nearly a year; it was as if all that we know before drained all the way down the sink, but as we are re-oriented again the ON switch button in our brain for the information about OR has been remembered. And are back on our feet in no time and ready to do as much as procedure we can assist.
Before the RLE exposure, when I hear the word “Head Nursing” from my fellow batch mates, it is always coupled with the words “TOXIC, TOXIC and TOXIC” and when I was the one on duty, I proved them right and wrong. You have to prepare for your activities and you need to monitor your staff nurses all the time. Honestly, I even forgot how it is to urinate because I was busy facilitating my staff nurses. You have to comply with the needs of your staff as well as the doctors and you have to evaluate your staff.
You are the boss and the decision always comes from you it’s like you call the shot and you are the final say. If you look at the brighter side, being the boss gives you pleasure and you don’t need to assist during the operation and other nursing procedures however, you should be there and check if you’re staff is doing everything correctly and appropriately. Decision making is a great deal and responsibility, once you made a mistake you can ruin one’s life, or so everyone’ life that is involved. With that, I learned that being a head nurse isn’t an easy job especially if ou’re working in a Government Hospital in which, there are a lot of patients and most of the time, the ideal procedures are not often done. Being a head nurse you should now the basic principles and protocols of the area. You should know the doctors (surgeon, assistant surgeon, anesthesiologist) that will be involved in the operation, familiarize yourself with the ”real” staff nurses, for they will be ones you can ask for help in case your clinical instructor is observing the other head nurse, and the health team members for they play a vital part in the team..
Also familiarize the storage of the instruments, their names and use. My staff on that day is Kaylene Peña as the scrub nurse and Mirzi Fajardo as the assistant scrub nurse with the procedure of TAHBSO. The operation is smoothly done in no time because my team is knowledgeable about the procedure and anticipated the needs of the surgeon. There are only minor errors like passing the wrong instrument, but nevertheless, they know what they are doing and they are enjoying what they do. There are lots of things in the operating room that you never thought you’d experience.
The experience that I had is one of the things that I will never forget. In conclusion, I had a great experience as a head nurse and I may say that it really aided in my learning. This is my last duty as a student nurse in the operating room. I am quite nostalgic with it because it may take a long time for me to be able to have my duty again as a REAL staff nurse— reality speaking. I am coming out to the real world and with me are my memories, knowledge, skills and attitude from the four years that I have been studying my chosen career— that will serve as my sword and shield in my facing my future challenges.
