Work has already been exciting. I have to get over all the dust on the gear. We are waiting on the old crew to leave before we make any big changes but I am already comfortable with my job. I am just dreading the heat to come. Right now it is very comfortable. But I know that will change soon. The last OR nurse said he has lost 26 lbs due to the heat. We have to keep the Operating Room extremely hot for the patients. Keep in mind he has been here over the cold months. Think how much weight I could sweat off in the summer months. Weight Watchers move over - the Iraq diet plan is taking over!
I've included a few pictures of the operating room here. This is what it looks like with and without patients. The coffee pots are actually fluid warmers. We keep bottles of sterile water inside and turn it on when we get a patient. Who would have thought such a simple idea would work?
Next is a picture of the patient "bed". Normally patients are carried in on a stretcher and set on this "table". The blue sheets keep the stand from getting too messy.
Last is the back table with our instruments. We keep one table ready at all times. The blue cloths are "sterile" gowns that yes we do use. My most famous saying has become - "We are in Iraq. This is war." Because most of the sterile technique that has been drilled into us has to go out the window and we have to let reality set in. Our patients get so much antibiotics that we have to do what is necessary to save life or limb and deal with the rest as it happens.
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