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Fight for perfection
Postmark OR
letters to the editor A sad commentary Your answer regarding the sterilization of the laparoxope was terrific. It i s a sad commentary on our way of life even in medicine when quantity seems to overweigh quality! Barbara Hill Houston, Tex
Fight for perfection How surprised I was t o see my very thoughts in print in Postmark OR. In the past few years, most of my time has been working with students of various levels in the operating room. The things that I see, and the things which the students relate to me make me feel like "the middle-aged Catholictrained nurse." My teeth had difficulty staying in place when an operating room supervisor told me that she did not run her department b y any books. This was in response to my question about sterilizing large trays of instruments in the flash autoclave for three minutes. When the cycle was complete, the instruments were removed and they were soaking wet. M y students questioned this. They were im-
754
mediately labeled as "unethical and insubordinate." I have not been able t o adjust my thinking to adapt to the "way that we do it." I am not hard-nosed or impractical because I teach. M y teaching i s based on principles. I always tell my students that there are many ways of accomplishing the same goals, as long as technique i s followed. Also, I'm not completely removed from the operating room, for I work staff duty a t intervals for the express purpose of keeping updated. If all the technique which we teach i s useless, why d o we continue? Also, how does the infection percentages rate with the breaks in technique? My observation has led me to believe that we are not "all wet" about aseptic technique. One operating room supervisor told me that the doctors did not like the surgery doors closed while they exwere working. They remained open cept when some "grouchy" surgeon screamed for the door to be closed. Instruments, needles and sponges were not counted b y two parties, as the middle-aged ones of us were taught.
AOlCN Jorrrnnl, October 1973, Vol 18, N o 4
...
As your insight probably tells you, I could go on and on. Students listen, but I worry about their being swept up in the stream of "what's the difference" attitudes. A t this point I depend upon select students to carry our "torch of perfection" which I believe i s the only way in the operating room. Sometimes one feels that the fight i s a losing one. Lydia E Holmgren, Coordinator, Patient Advocate Service
Old-fashioned f e c hn ique This i s just a note to compliment you on your article "Asepsis Versus Ritualism." It seems to me that with all the new fancy equipment and machinery we have a tendency to forget good old-fashioned aseptic techniques such as hand washing and the other things mentioned in your article. Keep up the good work. Robert T Smith Smith and Underwood Laboratories
Naomi Nisenson dies Naomi Nisenson, RN, president of the New York City chapter and a charter member of AORN, died July 24, 1973 of a cardiac arrest in Montefiore Hospital. Miss Nisenson was assistant director, nursing, operating room, at Montefiore Hospital Center, New York City, where she had been a staff member for almost 22 years. Under her direction, an operating room technician course was structured and the first class graduated in 1969. Montefiore was the first hospital i n the metropolitan area to perform organ transplants and an open heart program was instituted in the early 1950s. Miss Nisenson and her staff were instrumental in implementing these programs successfully. Because of her philosophy and attitudes, she attracted a number of nurses from her alma mater, Beth Israel Hospital. Several are still at Montefiore as line supervisors. Miss Nisenson had been active in AORN for 25 years. She served on local and national AORN committees and assisted in the planning of the three AORN Congresses in New York City. In March 1973, she became the sixth president of the New York chapter after serving for a year as president elect. Services were held in Riverside Memorial Chapel, New York.
AORN Journal, October 1973, Vol 18, N o 4
755
letters to the editor A sad commentary Your answer regarding the sterilization of the laparoxope was terrific. It i s a sad commentary on our way of life even in medicine when quantity seems to overweigh quality! Barbara Hill Houston, Tex
Fight for perfection How surprised I was t o see my very thoughts in print in Postmark OR. In the past few years, most of my time has been working with students of various levels in the operating room. The things that I see, and the things which the students relate to me make me feel like "the middle-aged Catholictrained nurse." My teeth had difficulty staying in place when an operating room supervisor told me that she did not run her department b y any books. This was in response to my question about sterilizing large trays of instruments in the flash autoclave for three minutes. When the cycle was complete, the instruments were removed and they were soaking wet. M y students questioned this. They were im-
754
mediately labeled as "unethical and insubordinate." I have not been able t o adjust my thinking to adapt to the "way that we do it." I am not hard-nosed or impractical because I teach. M y teaching i s based on principles. I always tell my students that there are many ways of accomplishing the same goals, as long as technique i s followed. Also, I'm not completely removed from the operating room, for I work staff duty a t intervals for the express purpose of keeping updated. If all the technique which we teach i s useless, why d o we continue? Also, how does the infection percentages rate with the breaks in technique? My observation has led me to believe that we are not "all wet" about aseptic technique. One operating room supervisor told me that the doctors did not like the surgery doors closed while they exwere working. They remained open cept when some "grouchy" surgeon screamed for the door to be closed. Instruments, needles and sponges were not counted b y two parties, as the middle-aged ones of us were taught.
AOlCN Jorrrnnl, October 1973, Vol 18, N o 4
...
As your insight probably tells you, I could go on and on. Students listen, but I worry about their being swept up in the stream of "what's the difference" attitudes. A t this point I depend upon select students to carry our "torch of perfection" which I believe i s the only way in the operating room. Sometimes one feels that the fight i s a losing one. Lydia E Holmgren, Coordinator, Patient Advocate Service
Old-fashioned f e c hn ique This i s just a note to compliment you on your article "Asepsis Versus Ritualism." It seems to me that with all the new fancy equipment and machinery we have a tendency to forget good old-fashioned aseptic techniques such as hand washing and the other things mentioned in your article. Keep up the good work. Robert T Smith Smith and Underwood Laboratories
Naomi Nisenson dies Naomi Nisenson, RN, president of the New York City chapter and a charter member of AORN, died July 24, 1973 of a cardiac arrest in Montefiore Hospital. Miss Nisenson was assistant director, nursing, operating room, at Montefiore Hospital Center, New York City, where she had been a staff member for almost 22 years. Under her direction, an operating room technician course was structured and the first class graduated in 1969. Montefiore was the first hospital i n the metropolitan area to perform organ transplants and an open heart program was instituted in the early 1950s. Miss Nisenson and her staff were instrumental in implementing these programs successfully. Because of her philosophy and attitudes, she attracted a number of nurses from her alma mater, Beth Israel Hospital. Several are still at Montefiore as line supervisors. Miss Nisenson had been active in AORN for 25 years. She served on local and national AORN committees and assisted in the planning of the three AORN Congresses in New York City. In March 1973, she became the sixth president of the New York chapter after serving for a year as president elect. Services were held in Riverside Memorial Chapel, New York.
AORN Journal, October 1973, Vol 18, N o 4
755