Thoughts from the OR....or how I asked Jesus to take the wheel so I wouldn't hurt anyone...namely the surgical rep.

So I feel that I am a fairly skilled X-Ray tech. I feel like my brain was meant to handle high pressure and traumatic situations. I am able to see things 3 dimensionally and can think quick on my feet when I need to without freaking out. I see what needs to be done in the moment and I do it quickly. I feel as though I have become very comfortable in my role at the trauma center and because of all this the docs who know me trust my skills and judgement. I, unlike a lot of others, prefer to be in the OR. I enjoy working closely with the surgeons and I feel I am in my comfort zone there. Generally speaking when I walk into an OR case I am greeted with high fives, hugs and smiles. Often it is with a look that says..."well now I know at least one part of this case is going to go right."

Today, however, I walked into a sinuplasty case with a new doc. The doc was not really the issue...it was the rep. Here's the way I look at Surgical Reps: Some are good at what they do with out being pushy or offensive...and some act like they know more than what they really do and are pushy and offensive. The sinuplasty rep was the kind that acts like he knows more than he really does and is very pushy and offensive. Upon entering the room with my C-Arm, I had to wait while he explained the whole procedure and how awesome it was to the entire OR staff. I then moved to the opposite side of the room where I was wanted. The rep approached me asking if I was to be the x-ray tech for the case. I told him I was and introduced myself. He then proceeded to go over a card about how I should run my C-Arm for the case. He went over all the settings I should use...in a fashion I must say that treated me as though today was my first day in the OR and as if I had never run a C-Arm in my life. He then proceeded to show me how I would move my C-Arm from the AP to Lateral position. Needless to say...I was seething. I mean REALLY!!!! HELLO! Does he know how much surgery we do in a level one trauma center. We have 8 C-Arms running most mornings at 7:30 am and we run strong like that all friggin' day. At other area hospitals they only have 2 or 4 C-Arms and a busy day for X-Ray in the OR is 4 scheduled cases for the whole flippin' day. We run more than 4 C-Arms after 4 pm most days of the week. Most days when I am scheduled in the OR I am only out for lunch and that's it until after 5 pm. I have seen the inside of more cases in the last 3 years than this guy has in the last 10 years for god's sake and he is telling me how I am supposed to run my C-Arm. Has this man even ever worked with the C-Arms we have. NO! He does not know all their little quirks and the magic it literally takes to run some cases and still maintain a good image. And to top it all off the last thing on this man's card was a reminder for me to remind everyone in the room to have lead on during the case...like we don't do any cases using X-Ray here. OK...I did have to take several deep breaths and smile and nod OK. Which btw was a lot for me to muster. The OR is my element. The deep breathing with my eyes closed, as this arrogant idiot was telling me how to do my job, was me looking deep to find Jesus and come to my center without ripping his head off, chewing it up and spitting it out at his feet. So I ran the case perfectly...as usual...and did not need the rep's help in moving my C-Arm from AP to Lateral positions...shocking, I know. Oh and best of all the rep told me at the beginning of the case that we would only need to use 9 seconds of fluoro while the doc opened all 6 sinus cavities. Well we used waaaaaayyyy more than the 9 seconds he said we would use. We used 8 minutes and 22 seconds of fluoro...probably because he was trying to tell the seasoned surgeon how to do his job too.