--- In nursebob@yahoogroups.com, Chantele Delaney
<chantele_delaney@y...> wrote:
> Do I have questions?? This may seem like a very simple question
that I should know, but I'm really stumped. What is a nurse called
that helps during surgery, does stitches, but also works with
people? For example taking their blood pressure, temperature, etc.
There are just so many branches in nursing I had no idea! You can't
be just a nurse. Thanks for taking the time to read this and
responding.....if you choose to. :) Chantele
>

> I believe you are speaking of what is called a "First
Assist". This is a nurse, usually specialized in a certain
dicipline, that assists the surgeon in the OR with all scheduled
surgeries as well as emergency cases. This position often includes
seeing patients post-op along side the Surgeon and at times
independently for less complicated cases. He/She is usually a
liason between the Surgeon and the hospital staff and patients.
This RN will screen pages for the surgeon and either deal with the
issue independently, or notify the surgeon he/she needs to return a
page, has recieved a consult or there is a cercern regarding a
patient that needs immediate attention. Usually this position pays
very well and it may require an advanced degree in some areas of
medicine. Sounds like fun though, until your in the line of fire
when s___ hits the fan in the OR cause the patient is starting to
crump. You need a hard outer shell at times to deal with some of
the tense and occasionally verbally abusive moments that can occur
when the surgery is not going as planned. Then again you may get
lucky and have a surgeon who can control him/her self in stressfull
situations. If this sounds good to you, go for it! I did it for 3
years and loved it! I stopped when we moved to a new town. I wasn't
familiar with the medical community in the area and thus decided to
go back into ICU bedside nursing. This gave me a chance to get to
know some of the Docs and nurses in my area. If your thinking about
going into this field, pick a surgeon with a good rep.It can't hurt
to work as well. GOOD LUCK!! MJ
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