Mopping Up

Many years ago when I was at work, a funny thing happened that still to this day brings a smile to my face. I was working in a major city teaching hospital in the operating theatre suite. It was a particularly busy day. We had at the time, a number of student nurses on their theatre rotations and on "observation duties only”, and one of them was assigned to me.

My student nurse was a lovely, well spoke and gentle young thing, not a common attribute to those in the theatre environment. Most of us who had been working in this part of the hospital were a hardened bunch. You had to be to survive the trials and the tribulations that went with the job. Working in a teaching hospital’s operating suite, everything and anything in the way of trauma presented to us. From serious cuts and broken bones, right through to multiple trauma, sickening injuries and mangled torsos, that had somehow previously resembled a human being. We got it all. Along with this trauma came the personalities of the orderlies, the nurses, the surgeons and the consultants. Each and every one of them ever so different, but all hardened to the type of work that we did.

So here was this timid, shy student nurse, in awe of her surroundings and hesitant to do anything in fear of getting in the way. After formal introductions from her preceptor, I gathered her under my wing and off we went to face the forever growing theatre list. I had been allocated the orthopaedic list for this shift. The list had scheduled operations on it like knee replacements, arthroscopies, hip replacements and other minor operations. It was a great list to observe and learn from, and I relayed this to my subservient student who was both excited and appreciative of my willingness to make her feel welcome. After some basic instructions on how the day was to run, what the routine was, what to do and where to stand, our day began.

The first job for me was to find this student something to do. It had to be something that would not involve too much of my time as I was required to assist the scrub nurse and the surgeon during the operation. I introduced my student nurse to both the consulting surgeon and the anesthetist as they entered the operating room. They warmly welcomed her and asked the usual polite questions while setting up for the morning’s list. I then instructed our student nurse to assist the consultant surgeon as he scrubbed up, explaining what to do and how to do it. This was the safest task for her to do as she was out of the way and, somewhere where I could keep an eye on her. In the scrub room she would be able to ask the appropriate questions regarding the upcoming operation, and get it from the horses mouth, so to speak. The consultant surgeon seemed to have taken a shine to this young girl as he rambled on and on about the procedure he was about to perform and the technique he was going to use. I think he was in his element as someone was actually listening to him and interested in what he was saying. As we theatre nurses have worked with this consultant for many years, we had heard it all before. So I was comfortable that my student was in her element, and my surgeon was in his. I continued with my preparation of our patient who was now on the theatre table, and the equipment required for this operation. Finally we were underway.

The operation was well into its second hour. It was a difficult case but it was progressing along smoothly. My student nurse was stiff and silent, watching in amazement, just as I had done when I saw my first knee replacement. Although I couldn’t see her mouth (because she had a mask on, covering her face), I am sure it would have been agape in awe of what was taking place in front of her. The buzzing of reciprocating and oscillating saws, of drilling and reaming holes, of tapping and counter-sinking screws and then the sudden hiss of compressed air. The noise and sounds of a workshop, a different kind of workshop.

After the main part of the operation had been completed, our surgeon had worked up a bit of a sweat. Replacing joints is quite physically demanding job, especially if the patient is on the larger side. Also, unconscious patient’s limbs really are a “dead” weight making lifting and repositioning them a challenging task. During such joint replacement surgery, our consultant surgeon usually wore a head band to capture any sweat that he may produce during these cases. This particular day he had either forgotten or chose not to wear one. Personally I think he was just too busy chatting up this young student nurse before the case started in the scrub room, that he forgot to put it on. Or maybe he thought it didn’t look too cool, especially for his new and keen young surgical admirer.

So here we are close to the end of the case and becoming obvious that the sweat was beginning to annoy our surgeon. Soon it became too much and at this point he turned to the young student nurse and said, “Mop nurse please” indicating that he wanted the sweat removed to avoid stinging his eyes as it rolled down his brow and behind his protective clear glasses. Suddenly, the young student nurse walked off and out of the theatre room, as quickly as she could. We all stood stunned and silent, looking at each other wondering what had happened and where she had gone. The surgeon looked up at me and raised an eyebrow in question. I started to make a move towards the door to see if I could find our student nurse and answer all of these questions. Just as I neared the main door, suddenly it swung open. In came our student nurse, briskly moving towards the theatre table with a spring in her step and happy that she had finally been asked to do something constructive. She boldly came forward and looked at the surgeon, and produced a well used floor mop. The mop she had collected from the utility room that was down the corridor. It was one that used after each each case to mop out the theatre floors. Holding it in her hands in front of her she asked “ Where would you like me to mop sir?”. It wasn’t quite the type of “mop” he wanted!

I looked at my collegues with trust in my eyes that they would not to burst out laughing. I so much wanted to protect this young and dedicated nurse from any humiliation. Thankfully, the surgeon spoke before anyone else. He looked at her and said, “Thank you nurse but I wont be needing the mop anymore, I have stopped sweating now.” She was oblivious to it all, and walked out of the theatre to return the mop to the utility room, just as happily as she had when she brought it in.

Often we will say one thing and mean something else. The most important lesson to take from this story is that we should never assume that everyone knows what we are talking about. Making assumptions on ones understanding of situations may not have positive outcomes. So where possible always be clear on what it is you want and get confirmation that your instructions have been understood. Never assume anything. Always ensure clarity in what you say and what you expect.