You may be called upon to give a helping hand

When all set at your end, you can help all others in the theatre towards the well being of the patient and speeding up of the surgery. Your eyes gradually get trained to the extra needs of the surgeon, the nurse or even the ward boy. You start working like a team. If the ward boy is busy helping the nurse or the surgeon, you may be called upon to tie the surgeons gown, provide the gloves etc. If the nurse is busy preparing the trolley, keep a watch on her. Remind her of the sponge/swab count after cleaning the used up sponges and swabs. If the nurse is new you can instruct her about the surgeons requirements. In case you are early in the theatre, have a cursory glance at the autoclave labels on the drums, keep a watch on the time taken by the nurse to wash up. It should take at least 3 minutes. Watch the draping technique. If there are any observers for the surgery make sure that they follow proper asepsis procedures. Advise observers to keep out of the way of the operating room equipment and personnel. Over time the number of people that you need to keep a watch on will decrease. Arranging the theatre light, checking malfunctioning equipment (cautery machine, suction machine, microscope etc.) and correcting minor faults may become part of your duties. Cautery burns may be avoided by observing the person attaching the neutral pad to the patient. Check the label and contents of all IV fluids (for foreign matter, fungus etc.). Check the blood groups and the cross match reports, check the bottle of blood for clots, the colour of the supernatent serum for hemolysis. Check the fluids (normal saline, distilled water, autoclaved water) supplied to the surgeon during endoscopic surgeries. Check all the drugs given to you by the nursing home during the surgery. Safe shifting of the table and removal of the tourniquet must be supervised. Keep the notes during surgery and enter them in your record book if you notice anything unusual. Recording of the tourniquet time, time of the birth of the baby, timing of the drug administered, quantity of fluid administered is a good practice. It may be of help to the team or patient.