Experiences of Australian Army theatre nurses - Statistical Data Included

AORN Journal,  Feb, 2002  by Narelle Biedermann

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There still was the ever-present problem of inadequate staffing levels in theatre and triage, particularly among the nurses and physicians. Ms G found this frustrating as it limited her contact with casualties to preparing them for theatre or when transferring them to recovery or intensive care. As Ms G was the only theatre nurse during 1968, she was not cross-trained in anesthesia as was her predecessor because it was deemed inappropriate. Consequently, anesthetists continued to train the operating theatre medics to administer simple anesthetics and intubate in situations in which it was necessary to perform two procedures simultaneously. (3)

Ms G and her theatre staff members did not work shifts like the majority of the clinical personnel. Instead, they arrived at work at seven o'clock each morning and stayed until all procedures were finished. Ms G said that some days they would not go to bed before the early hours of the next morning, but there also were quiet days in which there were no scheduled or emergent procedures. During this quiet time, theatre staff members took the opportunity to restock, clean the theatres, and maintain equipment. They also used the time to relax by playing volleyball or going to the beach for a swim and a barbecue. Ms G did not remember doing that very often; she recalled working very hard during her time in Vietnam. She said that she always seemed very busy, as she also needed to ensure that the medics and surgeons were taking breaks.

MS D. Ms D arrived in 1969 and took over from Ms G when she was due to return to Australia. Ms D had gained some theatre experience before joining the Army when she spent her staff year in the theatre at a large teaching hospital in Melbourne. She said that she enjoyed theatre work, and when she joined the Army in 1967, she found herself back in the theatre, training medics to go to Vietnam as theatre technicians. When she arrived at the 1st Australian Field Hospital, the matron informed her that she would be working in the theatre beginning the following morning. Despite her background in theatre, Ms D described her time in the theatre as "soul destroying and traumatic" because she also participated in triage, for which she had no experience. She emotionally recalled

   We could be in our beds and get a call-out from the siren going, so you had
   to get up there, and you could end up with anything from one patient to 20
   ... 30. It was quite awesome because these patients landed, and you knew
   you had to look after the ones you could save first before the others ...
   it was pretty hard. You just ran the whole time ... and some of them you
   couldn't save.

Unlike her predecessors, Ms D scrubbed for only one surgical procedure, an appendectomy, the entire time she was in Vietnam. The theatre technicians became quite proficient in scrubbing for a variety of procedures, and most medics became competent in specialized areas such as neurological or orthopedic procedures. She described the type of surgery conducted when wounded soldiers were evacuated from the front as "The quicker the better. It was a matter of getting in there, getting it done, and getting out again. There was no precise instrumentation." As with her predecessor, Ms D's role in theatre primarily was to coordinate the daily running of the theatre and to assist in the transition of the casualties from triage to theatre and from recovery to the wards.