Practicum ~ Week 2 ~ Instruments

This week I was introduced onto the other side of "the pit"..which is what they like to call the decontamination area. I thought that it was very weird at first that I no longer needed to gown up to be in the area, and to touch things with bare hands FINALLY was mind blowing on its own. I thought that touching things with bare hands would still contaminate the instruments so I was sketched out at first, but after the first 2 hours I began to realize its fine since things were not "sterile" yet.

Then I was introduced to the instruments, some of them including Kelly, Laheys, Mosquitos, hysters, etc. A lot of the instruments in the beginning looked so similar that I thought how the heck can you tell them apart??!?! But after doing so many sets you get used to how they look like, and I can identify Kelly from Laheys now and kochers (the hardest one to get into my mind). 

"Mosquito" forcep which is both straight and curved

"Kelly" forcep

That was pretty much everything that I did the first day. 

Day 2 - I did the same thing as the previous days, but it got extended into some of the items that I knew went onto the "alcohol table" in decontamination, so op laps, long laps, and cataracts. With the specialty equipment you have to take things that were diassembled and reassemble them so that the pieces do not get lost during the sterilization phase. But you just carefully assemble them back into the trays and then wrap them. This day was the first time that I got experience with wrapping, and let me tell you my first op lap, I got so frustrated that I got my perceptor to do it for me because the containers are so big in the first place, then the wrapper is really heavy so that it doesn't rip during the sterilization process. 

Day 3 - This day was different from all the rest. Today we mainly focused more on the specialty equipment, ortho pans, and power equipment for the instrumentation part. In the ortho pans, the only difference is, if a piece is missing like a screw or so, you go to the computer put in the number associated with the item and replace it since the screws cannot be put in and they are considered implants which would then have a BI in red on the tape since it is an implant. 

Stryker Triathlon Total knee tray that I did and wrapped.

Then I got to do some steri-peeling which is when you put a device into a pouch that is consisted of paper and plastic and heat seal it for the sterilization process.  They do items for day procedures, OR, a thing called gross labs - they inspect the specimens that were collected from biopsy -.

My perceptor too this week has been awesome, her name is Chelsey. She has the personality that is very fast paced, nerdy, awkward and sarcastic - but the kind of sarcastic where you cannot tell if they are joking until they say "just kidding". But she was funny, I kept on forgetting my chemical integrators into the packages to signify that they have been through the steam process. But I kept on forgetting them and everytime I did she told me I failed and that I might as well go home now..just kidding of course haha. Then I forgot one at the end of the night, and she just screamed out that I was hopeless and that I was the worst practicum-y ever..only jokingly again haha. But she is very knowledgeable and easy to get along with. I also found her really good at showing me sets and what to do with them.

Day 4 - This day was more of a boring day. I had to wrap basins (are a pain), do so much steripeel (which I struggled with a bit) and had to fold gauze for awhile. Then I was showed around the cart area, which is the area that I am going to work in on friday. So its nice that I got a little bit of a change from what I was doing for the last two days to work in case carts.

Day 5 - Today I did case carts, and it was not busy like it usually is since it is the long weekend and reading week so everyone will be gone. I guess next week only 4 theatres were booked for the whole week, normally it is like 9 theatres. We only had to do 20 carts instead of the normal 40 that they do in a day. All case carts is, is stocking carts for the surgeries and preparing stat carts (emergency carts). Then after we did case carts...first two hours. I did some steri-peel, I did some wrapping of instruments, some day pro trays etc. Just pretty much did anything that I could get my hands on.
And due to the long weekend they sent me home early. I thought Chelsey was kidding though since it is her new years resolution to be more mean haha.

And I got the biggest surprise at the end of the night, Jesse took me out for dinner at Montanas! I was just expecting mcdonalds haha. But it was great, my prayers have been answered in ways and I am grateful for Jesse, I love him so much and I hope to spend many more valentine's days with him.