New Rooms in the New Year...

For the last 39 years, I've worked in the operating room of our home town.   It has grown from a small unit where we did 3-6 cases a day to many days more than 30.  When I started, we had physicians who did general practice in the afternoons so we did surgeries mainly in the mornings. Now we have many excellent surgeons who are desired by large cities but choose to live and raise their families in a small town.  They are very progressive and do wonderful work.  I feel privileged to be a part of it all. 

 Soon we are opening 2 new operating rooms that are state of the art. This morning it felt like Christmas as during our staff meeting we got a preview! 

 Kathy, alias Yaya over at Whispering Pines is here with me below.  We decided yesterday that this would make a good post because it is an exciting event in our lives....so here she is with her camera! (And I will be in her post with mine quite soon, I'm sure lol!)

 We all gathered while 2 sales reps showed us the many amazing features of these rooms.  Most OR's have lots of electrical equipment that have cords running everywhere.  They are a constant tripping hazard,especially when we do laparoscopic cases in the dark. These rooms are all ceiling mounted so that no cords will be running on the floors.

 Here is our desk area with storage...old rooms have none.

 Our present operating room lights have about 9 bulbs in them.  These have 90 with a remote sensor to the parent company that "talks" to them to relay when bulbs need to be serviced for replacement.  (They are supposed to last about 20 years!) All the monitors and computers are on the same relay system.

 The big screen on the far wall can be used during laparoscopy cases just like the small monitors. They can also be programed to show x-rays as they are developed in radiology during a case!!  They can do conferencing calls to example: pathology during a case for frozen section specimens where we are waiting results before proceeding. (Now done by phone)

 These parts can float all around the room and are on booms that release a hissing sound when moved.

 I am amazed by it all as the sales rep talks...but then I have felt that way many times as modernization has happened over the years.  During my career I have seen much progress in hospitals that is amazing....sometimes when I compare surgeries now to 40 years ago...it's like watching the wagon train go west!!!  Cataract surgery for instance was performed with a large incision surgery followed by 10 days of hospital bed rest with large sandbags on either side of the head.  Patients had thick coke bottle glasses following. Now they are in the hospital for a 22 minute case, in and out of the hospital in about 1-1/2 hours total.  They have a micro incision and lens insertion that allows instant sight and no movement restrictions.  Many types of cases that are done now have that kind of dramatic change.

 This is Dr. M talking to nurse manager M (with hand over face) and K our workroom tech. Just makes you want to say "Parascope UP!!"

This is the nursing control panel for everything in the room, turns multiple things on and off...again...amazing!! 

And last but not least...the people behind it all are simply great to work with!  It's a pleasure to go to work in a place where people smile and help each other.  Here are three of my colleagues but I could put any three co-workers faces in here and feel the same way!! Happy New Year!!!