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CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE
U.S. ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT CENTER AND SCHOOL
SUBCOURSE MD0923 EDITION 100
INTRODUCTION TO THE OPERATING ROOM
A patient scheduled for surgery will have his operation performed by
specially trained personnel working in a highly specialized area of
the hospital. This area--the operating room (OR) suite--has an
environment suited to its needs, but one quite different from that in
the rest of the hospital.
All activities in the OR suite are centered around the best possible
care of the patient.
The purpose of this subcourse is to familiarize you with certain
aspects of the OR environment that will provide you with a basis for
understanding your role as an OR specialist and enable you to enhance
the performance of duties assigned to you in the care of the patient.
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Length: 140 Pages
Estimated Hours to Complete: 10
Format: PDF file
Size: 2.3 MB
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Anyone may take this course. However, to receive credit hours, you
must be officially enrolled and complete an examination furnished by
the Nonresident Instruction Branch at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Enrollment is normally limited to Department of Defense personnel.
Others may apply for enrollment, but acceptance is not guaranteed.
Introduction to the Operating Room
Distance Learning
Course
140 Pages
Est. 10 Hours
2.3 MB pdf file
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1 Orientation
Section I. Introduction
Section II. The Operating Room Suite
Section III. Furniture and Equipment
Section IV. Aseptic Technique/Infection Control
Section V. Orientation to an Individual Operating
Room
Section VI. Housekeeping
2 Operating Room Personnel, Policies, And Nomenclature
Section I. Surgical Nomenclature
Section II. The Operating Room Team
Section III. Attributes Necessary in Team Members
Section IV. Policies and Information on File
Section V. Selected Forms Used in the Operating Room
3 Safety In The Operating Room
Section I. Introduction
Section II. Explosion and Fire Hazards
Section III. Hazards Other Than Fires and Explosions
GLOSSARY
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LESSON 1
ORIENTATION
Section I. INTRODUCTION
1-1. SCOPE
This subcourse deals with various aspects of the
operating room (OR)
environment, focusing particularly on
the physical environment, aseptic technique, surgical nomenclature,
responsibilities of personnel, operating room team, ethics,
certain
policies, and safety measures. The
OR
specialist
should have a full appreciation of these matters in order to
understand departmental rules and
policies
and to know how his important role in
the OR
contributes to safe and effective
patient care.
1-2. PURPOSE
The purpose of this subcourse is to assist the
OR
specialist
in gaining
or renewing an understanding of the
area in which he is assigned and an appreciation of the strict
discipline under which members of the
OR
team work in their unceasing effort to
render the best possible care to the patients
entrusted
to them. Accordingly, this text is
directed toward the OR
specialist.
1-3. APPLICATION OF MEDICAL PROCEDURES
An OR
specialist
may be assigned to any one of a variety of Army hospitals in the
United States (US) or in a foreign country. The mobility of an Army
hospital determines in part the amount of supplies and type of
equipment it uses. This in turn may affect the manner in which the
OR
specialist
applies various medical
procedures.
NOTE: Mobility
refers to the ability of a unit to move both personnel and equipment
from one location to another, using its own transportation. A fixed
unit is one that cannot change locations because the structures
housing it are of a permanent type.
a. Mobility. Some
Army hospitals are more mobile than others. For example, a combat
support hospital (CSH) (see figures 1-1 and 1-2) utilizes medical unit
self-contained transportable (MUST) equipment and modular structures.
The basic CSH can be transported to a new location in four loads. On
the other hand, a general hospital is fixed.
b. Supplies
and Equipment. Fixed hospitals are capable of storing bulky
and heavy supplies whereas mobile hospitals have a limited storage
capacity. In addition, the equipment used in a CSH and many other
mobile table of organization and equipment (TOE) medical units is
characteristic of the compact, lightweight, and portable type, but it
is usually quite similar in both appearance and operation to the
equipment used in permanent (fixed) type hospitals.
c. Guidance by
Supervisor. The OR
specialist may find
that a smaller variety of items, both supplies and equipment, are
available in a mobile medical unit than in a fixed medical unit. This
factor of having less supplies and equipment to work within certain
hospitals indicates that the OR
specialist may need
to make adjustments in the method of performing some of his assigned
duties. In some instances, he may need to improvise, as prescribed by
his supervisor, in order to perform certain procedures. Furthermore,
the type of improvisation required may vary from one hospital to
another, depending upon the type of equipment that is available at a
given time.
(1) Operating room supervisors and surgeons frequently
prescribe the policy to be followed by personnel under their
supervision.
(2) Therefore, in this and other subcourses related to
the OR. specialist,
principles and safeguards are stressed. Methods and techniques are
discussed for the benefit of those specialists assigned to hospitals
and other medical units where standing operating procedures (SOP) have
not been developed or are incomplete.
Section II. THE OPERATING ROOM SUITE
1-4. DEFINITION
The use of the term "operating room" requires clarification. The
entire area in which surgical operations are performed and materials
are prepared and stored for surgery is properly called the operating
room suite or the surgical suite. However, hospital personnel often
describe the entire suite simply as the "operating room" (OR).
Examples of such usage are: "OR specialist,"
"OR nurse," and "OR supervisor"--all of whom have duties throughout
the surgical suite. Of course, "operating room" and "OR" are also used
to indicate an individual OR in which surgery is performed. Throughout
this subcourse, these terms "operating room suite" and "surgical
suite" are used when referring to the entire area in which operations
are performed and supplies are prepared and/or stored. Terms such as
"OR specialist," "OR supervisor," and "OR personnel" are in general
use and are understood by all hospital personnel as referring to
persons assigned to the OR suite. The terms "operating room" and
"individual operating room" are used to designate a room within the
surgical suite where surgery is performed on a patient.
From
Introduction to the Operating Room
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