PREPARING FOR SURGERY Students spend hours preparing to work in an operating room Rocky Sanchez

Preparing

for

Students spend hours preparing to work in an operating room. surgery Rocky Sanchez, Reporter & Designer approach, those instruments they have is not necessarily at you. Lots of times it’s in those cases,” Marker said. “Those are the situation, and we also tell students the instruments we have here, so we go they need to take constructive criticism,”

Being in the cold operating room through each category, and we learn Marker said. “If you can’t then this is gives the staff chilling goose bumps. the 40 to 60 per category, and then we not a good job for you because number The entire room is blue from the walls go over each instrument, what it is and one, the doctors are there to help you. to the tile floor with a glare of white how it is used, and then they have about Also, along with the student’s preceptor from the surgical lights that give off a two weeks to study them. And they can which is also a surgical technologist warm heat. take pictures or use flashcards, stay they,’re like here is a better way of

Brent Marker, Coordinator of the after class and get hands-on with them doing this and lots of times we show Surgical Technology Program, keeps if they like and about every two weeks the students that.” the program running smoothly at there is a test, and after that, it repeats When students finish the program, Hutchinson Community College and up from there.” they are hired at the clinic sites. Job to date with current industry standards. Apart from lecture and moving into placement is pretty high because at least

“There are a biology class or concepts the labs, students are required to open in the next five years, the job market for of allied health, a prerequisite for back table bag that has instruments surgical tech is expected to be pretty A&P, and they need to have A&P and inside for students to take out, learn how high According to Brent Marker. microbiology. We have recommended to open supplies correctly and sterile, “We have face-to-face classes and prereqs, which is medical terminology how to open the instrument tray, how to online classes, and our online classes and pharmacology, and we recommend open gown and gloves, and how to do a also coincide with the lecture and labs doing those because our credit hour load scrub and they are going to come in and and everything else. If I see their grade for our program can be high, so getting order the back table with all the supplies slip, I will make sure to talk to them and those done, it can help students be on there. “When it comes to scrubbing ask them is there is something I can help successful in the future,” said Marker. in, students are extremely careful with you with or just get more of a background

When taking the program, there are what they touch, as soon as their hands of them. Are they having internet issues 20 credit hours in the beginning and the go below their waist or touch anything, or is it too loud where they are at, and I’ll second semester 19, but if students take it’s considered unsterile. Anyone that make suggestions to go to the Rimmer,” both medical and pharmacology, there has a gown and gloves is considered Marker said. “They are open late. Debbie will be 17 credit hours in the first and sterile,” said Marker. Ash is a clinic coordinator. So our lab 16 credit hours in the second semester. Processing the labs and lectures, classes are a pretty great ratio it’s eight

Students are required to learn the students will first go over why they might students and two instructors.” instruments by category and by general need to scrub down first or handling the Surgical Technology Program Clinical instruments. instruments. Once they have this down Coordinator Debbie Ash, is another

“For example, the good majority in class, they practice it in the lab. instructor who helps students be of instruments you are going to use “We do mock surgeries with successful in the program. She has a high in general surgery cases which would students, and sometimes doctors are value on how she views her students. be a bowel resection or removal of a put underneath stress. They might yell “Knowing that I am producing gallbladder through the laparoscopy and raise their voice, and lots of times it patients to work in that OR [operating

room] and take care of that patient, that I would feel safe if my student were to work on me if I needed surgery,” said Ash.

If a student is struggling in class, the instructors are there to help.

“If we see them struggling in the lab and we see that, and they are not as far as long as other students or they are just not getting it we will do one on one time with them,” Ash said.

When students are getting ready for surgery, there is no disagreement between the instructor or student. ”We have to follow procedures, and we have to follow ARN [Association of Operating Room Nurses] and every facility has to follow those protocols and introduces all that to our students,” Ash said.

Students who are potentially interested in taking this program can speak with either Debbie Ash or Brent Marker, and either of them would be happy to talk with you and even give you a tour of the facility as well. “If you don’t have teamwork, you don’t have an OR [Operating Room].”

“If you don’t have teamwork, you don’t have an OR,”

Debbie Ash, Clinical Coordinator

Madison Rucker, Hutchinson, said, “You need a lot of awareness to know where you’re at, what everybody else is doing around you and anticipate what’s going to happen.”

After Rucker graduates, she plans on working at a surgical center.

I don’t think this gets talked as much as some of the other disciplines, and it really is a unique experience that is different to anything else out there you are there for that patient, there with that surgery, and it’s an incredible experience,” said Rucker.

▲ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▲

Students are presented with an actual surgical room that they practice in. Everything that is in this photo is what would be in a operating room.

▼ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▼

Madison Heminway Rucker, Hutchinson, has to be cautious when she is gowning and gloving because if she ends up touching something that isn’t clean without putting her gloves on first then she has to rescrub in. Be sure to have your hands placed in front of you when you are gowned and gloved to let others know that you are clean

▲ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▲

Elizabeth Stone, Hutchinson, performs a surgical scrub before entering the operating room. In order to scrub in she has to do her forearms, hands, and even dig deep into her nails to get any dirt out that could risk contamination on the patient Some of the things to know when starting off as a surgical technologist 1.) Open Sterile Supplies (gown, gloves, anything that is going to be used for the case) 2.) Surgical Scrub 3.) Gowning and Gloving self and others 4.)Preparation and organization of supplies for the sterile field 6.) Learning the name and how to hand instruments to the Surgeon 7.) Medication and suture identification and how to pass to Surgeon 8.) Turnover of the room after a case and getting it ready for the next case scheduled in that OR room Along with all of this there is the didactic part also.

▲ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▲

Madisson Young, Heminway Rucker, Mariah Downling, and Debbie Ash listen in on a lecture about why it is important to open a back table bag that has instruments inside them. Opening a back table bag carefully is important because it keeps everything in order and nothing else would fall out during surgery.

▲ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▲

Melissa Espino, Hutchinson, has finished setting up a back table bag and then goes back and explains how to set everything out correctly.

▲ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ▲ Students have to practice a mock surgery in order to get an understanding of what to do when they help a doctor. Also it helps them to handle a real situation if it were to ever come down to it then they would know how to handle something serious.

◄ Photo by Rocky Sanchez ◄

Olivia Justice, Arnold Delgado, Madison Young practice handling instruments to one another to ensure that nothing falls into the patient. Students are required to learn how to pass these instruments carefully.