r/scrubtech

I am currently a scrub tech, but I am heavily considering going back to school to be a RN. I have most of the classes I need to apply and would work PRN while in school. I would more than likely stay in the OR as a circulator, but sometimes I just feel like circulating is boring. I would much rather be scrubbed in and hands on. At my facility the nurses do not scrub, so that’s not really an option. I’m kinda torn. I like my job, but the pay could be better. Pay isn’t the only reason I want to do nursing, but it is a huge benefit.

So I’m a patient transporter and my hospital is going to let me shadow for a day… should I watch more surgical videos beforehand to desensitize myself? Or is it going to be surreal either way and not really matter

ok y’all, i just need some different perspectives/opinions on a situation.

so at my facility reps have a lot of freedom, they can run the hana/guardian/traction tables, some open trays/peel packs, they are the DJ’s, and almost of all of them reset their trays in the room while we’re closing. when they’re done they throw it on the case cart for me. well recently we were told they can’t reset their trays and when asked why management said it’s cause they don’t have the proper PPE. a circulator brought up that when they are the ones doing it, they don’t either so what’s the difference? that’s when we were told that it’s the scrubs responsibility to reset all the rep trays during closing. a vet scrub spoke up quickly reminding management that during closure we are focused on passing sutures, cleaning up other instruments, cutting sutures, getting dressings ready, counting, etc and it just doesn’t make sense for us to do it. everyone from scrubs to FA’s to circulators agreed. our program director said “then figure something out, i’m not in the rooms, that’s not my job.” ok true, but you are an admin in this department, it IS your job to support us and help us brainstorm ideas for possible policy changes. when we come up with a new idea all you do is shoot us down with absolutely no possible solution or idea.

we also participate in high efficiency days. this is basically a day where we do 14+ total joints for one doctor (we currently only have one H. E. dr with more joining in). H. E. days are knees only btw. these days have 2 scrubs, 2 FA’s, 2 circulators and 2 CRNA’s per room (all of our ortho docs get flip rooms), so that’s 8 people PER ROOM, not counting reps. on these efficiency days it seems all management cares about is quick turnover times. they seem to have lost the plot that we are HUMANS with other humans lives in our hands. i do spine so thankfully i am not apart of these days but still, its so frustrating to see it happening and seeing out infection rate rise. we used to have a 0.1% post op SSI rate and now it’s risen.

we’re all irritated and being treated like we’re the issue when asking for support. idk, i guess i’m just looking to vent and hear about different perspectives i may be missing or if we (the staff) are valid for feeling upset.

i will state that my spine reps are allowed to reset our globus trays since there’s so many but nothing else.

First thing that happens when I come in this morning is the nurse educator is like can I talk to you about something without you getting offended. she immediately goes at me for my beard I haven't been able to shave all weekend cause I cant see shit because we've had major power outages this weekend. It's not even long just barely past what's considered stubble

She's saying people are going to judge me because Im new and claim I look scruffy, And if I can cover my hair and beard when Im in the breakroom.

Then she asks me if she can ask a question without offending me and asks me if I would consider cutting my hair because Im new and people will judge me for it on top of questioning whether I can do the job or not

There is one guy here who has the scruffiest patchtiest beard ever and we have a dude with dreads. This feels so asinine and borderline discriminatory. My hair is always clean im generally smooth faced but the one time I cant shave its a problem..

No woman would ever be asked to cut their long hair. The nurse educator claimed she was just trying to help me

Hello. I am a surgical tech with five years of experience. I‘m most likely going to continue being a surgical tech, but what are some other paths to take to make more money or do something a little less physical a.k.a. standing all day and high stress? I’m looking into other medical jobs like sonography but I don’t know what’s right for me.

Is there really any difference for a new grad starting at a Teaching Hospital than a regular hospital ? If that makes sense?

What is your dream scrub cap design (in terms of the fabric pattern)? It be something you already own or a design you can’t find, but wish it existed.

Hi, I’m not sure if anyone else lives in riverside county but I was looking at the Surgical tech program with Carrington College and I wanted to ask y’all, is it worth it? Like what has job hunt after school looked like, has any one been to this specific school and did you get hired your from clinical site? It’s a pretty penny to spend on the program, so I wanted to ask yall! Also I have a meeting with the advisor from the program tomorrow, what questions should I ask to make sure I’m not getting “scammed,” for lack of better words. Thank you all in advanced!

I use to work with this surgeon who I thought was cool, he had great music, he was fast. But, I would see him yell at people. Everyone on this team would walk on eggshells when they knew he was upset. It was awkward. Then, one day he yelled at me. I was just fixing instruments on my mayo so he wouldn’t have any issues using the navigated tap and he starts yelling at me. But he started yelling at my circulator first then the X-ray tech. Then throwing instruments at me. I also pre build 4 screws and then he ended up wanting bigger screws so I had to quickly remove the screws I built and rebuild the ones he wanted. I was so pissed I saw red and I couldn’t even setup our last case. He constantly yells and disrespects people. His PA who is one of the hardest working PAs I have ever met literally cries. The floor PAs have panic attacks when they have to work with him. I have talked to my manager and I told her I don’t feel safe working with him. They are constantly trying to put me in his room. But if it’s another tech who can’t work with a certain surgeon no problem. I was told he was supposed to apologize to me for his behavior never did. I wouldn’t mind working with him if he apologized. I can’t allow someone to think it’s ok to disrespect because others allow him to. Have you ever had to work with a surgeon you don’t feel safe working with? If so, how do you deal with it?

Okay, we all hate managing cords, and lord knows we can’t stand the 2,741,844 ENT cords we have for sinus/nose. Does anyone have recommendations on how to keep them orderly? Or do you just raw dog it & hope for the best. Obviously there are steri strips or sometimes clips, but that only does so much for ENT cords.

I had 1 MD tell me he had a tech who used a mayo over the patient for cords, and had the instrument mayo next to the patient. Most people I see just struggle for survival. Surely, SURELY, someone manages these beasts!?

Alot of surgeons not all. I am three months in as a scrub on my own with no previous experience and I can tell you they don't care if you don't know or have never don't a step in a peocedure.

Yesterday was my first day alone and I had 6 cases all cysto. I thought I actually did well, we were ahead of time by an hour all day but the surgeon told my nurse educator that he was struggling all day because of me. I made a few small mistakes but I was expected to anticipate steps and be ready on cases I was rarely in.

I am struggling right now knowing when to interject and help and when to let the surgeon donhis thing, especially thisnsurgeone because hes really independent, he even drapes while Im draping instead of just letting me do it.

There were no notes for scrub techs in the preference sheet despite my nurse educator telling me to read it. I told her there were none she looked it up and said oh youre right

Best advice I can give to new scrubs if you get this kind of criticism is just shift your brain to overdrive and focus even more be more ready in general, triple check everything, make sure you have everything you need

Im currently halfway through a surgical technology program and in clinicals I’m trying to figure out what I want to do after graduation. I’m in NYC and would ideally like to work inOB.

I already have a bachelor’s degree in business/computer information systems, so surgical technology is a career change for me. I’ve been doing my clinicals and I’m realizing that I actually like the idea of specializing in one area rather than working in main OR where I’m constantly rotating through a large number of different specialties.

I would be completely fine with never going back to a general/main OR if I could build a stable career in L&D. I like the idea of becomin familiar with a smaller number of procedures, particularly C-sections and other OB procedures, rather than constantly having to learn completely different procedures and instrument sets. I don’t mind the administrative/logistics work L&D may require

Is it realistic to stay in L&D for your entire career?

Are there hospitals where CSTs are dedicated primarily or exclusively to L&D?

How difficult is it to get an L&D position as a new grad?
What are the biggest downsides of specializing in L&D long-term?

Is there any concern about L&D nurses/PCT eventually taking over the scrub role and reducing the need for CSTs?

I’m not looking to eventually become a generalist if I don’t have to. I’m genuinely interested in whether L&D can be a sustainable, long-term specialty for a CST, especially in NYC.

I’d really appreciate hearing from CSTs who have worked in L&D for several years, particularly anyone who has stayed there for most or all of their career.

Going to be doing surgical tech school in a few months. Wanted to get a head start and study the tools. On my school website part of the info says learn and identify over 100 surgical instruments . However I see flash card sets with over 400 tools.

Is there a list of the ones more surgeries use, or if someone has done the course maybe the ones we need to memorize 100%. I don't want to try and memorize 400 instrumentswhen they only test you on 100 or so .

I plan to complete the surgical tech program while I wait to get into the radiology tech program. I am genuinely interested in the CST position but I see a lot of things online that say rad tech pays better/is less physically straining which is why that’s my end goal.

My question for people already working in either of the fields: do you think it’s possible to be able to use both certifications? Like would a hospital allow you to work as a part time surgical tech with per diem rad tech shifts, or vice versa?

I feel like doing both would keep me from getting burnt out in one position, and I’d still get to do surg tech shifts which I think is cooler, but also do rad tech shifts which apparently pays better. Is this a dumb idea lol or have you ever seen anything like this work at your hospital?

TIA

I was thinking of trying to scrub OB and wasn’t sure what all I should be expecting or what it’s like compared to regular OR cases. What does the instrumentation look like (what instruments commonly used), what are common sutures to use, what’s an emergency C-Section like, what all should I expect?

Did anybody receive any trouble finding a job coming out of school???

I graduated approximately a month ago… My clinical site was on a hiring freeze so I was unable to apply there… so I’ve been applying to a lot of places, but they want you 2+ years of experience that I obviously don’t have since I’m coming straight out of school and even my friends are having trouble finding a job. The market is so bad right now… do you anyone have any advice of how to follow up after submitting an application especially to hospitals, because I don’t want to go straight into specialty ughhhhhh

Title. Guy friend of mine in his mid 20s who is currently in med school and works part time as a surg tech. His birthday is coming up and I'm trying to think of gift ideas that could be handy/useful for his job. Any recommendations? Budget is $40

For everyone who says they can’t afford school, here you go! Campbell County Hospital in Gillette, WY is willing to take the time to train you.