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At our weekly meeting today, my supervisor, preceptor and I decided to move onto the next area of Obstetrical Nursing: Cesarean Sections.

There are two roles a nurse fills during a c-section, the scrub nurse and the circulating nurse.

In general, the scrub nurse "scrubs" in for the surgery. She fills the sterile role by being an assistant to the surgeon. Sets up sterile equipment, counts, assists during the surgery with instruments and suctioning, etc.

The circulating nurse is not sterile. She is there to coordinate the whole ER including the surgeon, scrub nurse and the baby catcher. She gets any needed equipment or supplies. She records and documents events; makes any necessary phone calls needed. She does the sterile scrubbing and draping of the abdomen. Before the surgery, she prepares the patient with an IV, foley, shave prep and IV fluids. Then, after the cesarean she recovers the patient and the infant.

Moving on.

From now until my cesarean rotation is over, I can probably wake up 1/2 an hour later because it is absolutely useless to spend any time doing my hair in the morning. After one case in the OR with that white cap on my head, there is NO turning back... It's a bad hair day all the way... I might as well just keep the cap on my head from there on out.