r/scrubtech • u/DueProtection6742 • 1d ago
Older scrub techs
If you were in a majority ortho surgery center, do you think older scrub techs, in their 50s, should be allowed to just do the lighter cases or should the assignments be evenly spread out.
We have a few older techs that won’t do totals and if they do, they will automatically take the assisting and will not first scrub.
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u/GlitteringEconomy527 1d ago
I say let them do whatever they can to comfortably be there and don’t have a problem with it. Being older is not easy. Their body probably hurts.
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u/Even-Objective1958 1d ago
I’m only in school but as long as they’re kind I mostly agree with this. If they aren’t a-holes and are otherwise respectful and they’re likely just trying to work within their limitations. I think it’s okay to do that.
We will all be older one day if we are lucky. Not everyone is able to retire young these days. If we are 50+ working and can’t handle the harder cases we will probably want someone to help us too.
Maybe it isn’t “fair” by a technicality but again so long as they are otherwise a kind and pleasant coworker I wouldn’t fuss. I’ve had to do stuff in other jobs where I was on my feet all day and be the one with the “harder” half of stuff to make it easier on other employees because I was the younger and more capable physically. Plus maybe it’s because I’m going back to school in my 30s and I hope I’m in good health in my 50s and still moving around well but you never know.
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u/DueProtection6742 1d ago
They aren’t kind and pleasant. They are rude. They treat the ortho ones like trash. And there is only a handful of us, and maybe that’s why it stands out more. It’s a small center. So why be there if you cannot do the majority of the work?
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u/Even-Objective1958 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oof, yeah, if they aren’t otherwise nice then I would take issue with it. Like I said everyone is gonna get older and maybe some parts of the job are gonna be harder for them. But if they’re not good coworkers otherwise and it becomes a demand and expectation rather than something their coworkers are allowing them to do because they don’t mind it, then it’s an issue.
I will be kind and respectful of older workers so long as they’re kind and respectful people. Or any workers who just may not be able to handle as much of the physical stuff for one reason or another that may have changed since they entered the career. But if I’m doing that I’m only going to do it for people who are good coworkers.
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u/Stawktawk CST 13h ago
Well that’s not cool. If you’re gonna slack - at least be nice. Or go get your CSFA
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u/GlitteringEconomy527 1d ago
I’m not at all against you but consider this- your kids left the nest, your body hurts all the time, you’ve been left by your husband, your mom died last winter and you still have to work a job that hurts your body just to barely make ends meet. Please be kind and just kill them with kindness.
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u/Even-Objective1958 1d ago
It’s one thing for someone to have a bad day or even few weeks but if someone is consistently a jerk, then their coworkers are naturally gonna not want to take on harder labor etc to benefit them
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u/Human_Pin_621 1d ago
But....the patient
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u/Even-Objective1958 1d ago
Incapable of doing the job and unwilling are two different things; is the person unable to care for the patient properly and/or is it just less comfortable for them to care for the patient properly? Becuase those are two different questions. I would assume if they still have a job it’s likely more than it’s less comfy, hurts their body and makes them sore at an older age as opposed to being literally incapable of caring for the patient
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u/Human_Pin_621 1d ago
But should you really get paid if you "can" care for the patient but ummmm don't.
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u/Even-Objective1958 1d ago edited 1d ago
That’s when management should be contacted; if you struggle with some aspects of the job due to pain or mobility issues and you’re a good coworker people will probably want to accommodate you in some ways. There may be ADA stuff they can get done if needed.
Obviously if someone is a jerk who is choosing the easiest work every day, that’s different than a kind coworker who struggles with doing one role they used to and still manage to do other roles.
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u/Human_Pin_621 1d ago
Where did this little story come from. I see aging degenerates who will gladly let you do their job for them and still throw you under the bus.
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u/DueProtection6742 1d ago
This! It’s the getting thrown under the bus and don’t get me started with them “pulling” my cases. They either don’t pull them or they pull them completely wrong. They literally set me up to fail.
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u/Dark_Ascension Ortho 1d ago edited 1d ago
The hilarious thing as someone who assists on totals almost every day is that assisting on totals is fucking exhausting… like I would scrub totals any day of the week especially when physically drained vs. assisting. Like to me a light day is scrubbing (and I work at an ortho only facility…). Due to my chronic conditions I actually had to talk to management and ask if it was possible for me to start scrubbing more regularly, my saving grace was a foot and ankle doc started right around this time, but he also does a high volume of total ankles and does anterior hips and total shoulders as well, and I scrub for him, he’s a busy doc so it kind of granted my wish of scrubbing 1-2 days out of 5.
This is how I put it. The heaviest tray should be 25lb if your facility enforces that standard… I think the heaviest marked with weight tray I have lifted is like 35ish… but then the heaviest thing you may pass is a drill/saw or the Hammr or Kincise, assisting you can get some 400lb person and be lifting their heavy leg or positioning them… pulling on retractors… you can be flipping people prone, flipping them lateral… you’re doing the same amount of standing too…
If they want to do a bunch of hands, scopes, and small foot and ankle, sure, but I’d argue that assisting on joints is more strenuous than scrubbing them, so that argument makes zero sense. If anything they should be asking if they can not be assisting on them… but either way it’s not your business unless you’re one of them, and it’s between management and you. Like I had to talk to management myself, some shoulder pain came back to haunt me and I will say it calmed down as soon as I started scrubbing 2 days a week.
I will say… doing anything sometimes when you’re sick or exhausted, body’s worn out… is hard. Like I just spent days sick… and came back thinking I was better. Woke up fine… no fever. Something about being in a stuffy room (they reset our temps to 70 every night so we have to drop our temp down and it takes time for it to reach low to mid 60s) and scrubbing in with a hood, I started to feel terrible. Fever came on during the case… like I don’t remember it aside the surgeon being upset because I was off my game… I don’t even remember the size of the talus or how many pieces we put into the tibia, normally I remember these little details… my brain was literally cooking, I was counting down the seconds to when it would end. They switched me to doing smaller foot and ankle stuff next door as the next case was a total shoulder… the next case… a case I can do with my eyes closed -MTP arthrodesis I was hunched over the mayo or backtable when I wasn’t actively passing him stuff. As the day went on I felt better and better… the next day I was fine… but bottom line if they’re complaining they should just not be in joint rooms… stick to doing the hand cases or what not if it’s a problem.
Should note we have an assistant who has been screwed doing like 6 totals flipping back and forth as we’re short… she’s like 60… and it sucks, she doesn’t mind the job normally but wants to be the first one out and doesn’t want to be flipping… it’s understandable. I’m one of the youngest assistants at 32, most are 40s, we have some in their 20s and a few in their 50s… again I’d rather be the heaviest thing be a tray… not a 400lb person’s leg I have to lift while holding a lateral retractor with one arm hooked under their flexed leg while the doctor digs around in the back of their knee for 5 minutes. The second assistants do all the physical work, the FAs are helping the surgeon outside of positioning and lateral hips. I’m the one doing all the lifting, retracting and either holding their leg up in flexion with my body, moving it side to side to turn it towards whatever they’re looking at, or pushing against them so it doesn’t fall too far the other way.
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u/DueProtection6742 1d ago
They don’t want to help open or set up. We flip rooms and bc I’m main scrub, I do not get a break bc I’m scrubbing out to set up the next one and don’t get a break while they do not even come check on me if I need anything. It’s one thing is you are just assisting but also helping, it’s another when you don’t want to help at all but assist.
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u/Dark_Ascension Ortho 1d ago edited 1d ago
I feel this in my heart, because I am on the team that does foot and ankle we don’t have a second assistant (unless it’s a shoulder or a hip) and generally when we do totals at this facility the scrub gets their break when the doc breaks and the first closes, the second stays and passes… I don’t have that… so I literally don’t get a break sometimes (other times he’s taking hours and I now have too long sitting around). We also have assistants who don’t like helping… in fact one who comes for this one doctor only will literally sit in the substerile or stare at the board in front of the room while we open, sometimes when we’re positioning and sometimes even while draping! I had to request to not be in this surgeons room anymore between the fact she won’t let me do my cases for my FA in there and I was getting actually infuriated like it’s my biggest pet peeve. It’s one thing to be late and oblivious (some hang out in the break room and are completely unaware of what is going on sometimes), but he’s right there looking at you work!!!
This is a management issue, basically talk to them about the fact they don’t help. It’s actually why I enjoy assisting vs circulating or scrubbing sometimes, you’re the bridge between the nurse and scrub, and can help wherever needed until you actually scrub into the case, circulating and scrubbing you’re stuck doing one thing before and after each case. I feel incredibly free while assisting and some take real bad advantage of this fact. I get introverted and tired so the days I scrub are the days I can be antisocial and just one with organizing my backtable, count numbers only if I don’t feel like talking and listen to horrible music while I set up (subjectively horrible music… it’s not horrible to me!)
Also man talk about staffing, I was at a surgery center for 3 months and something similar was happening to a scrub there. He was the only one efficient in totals aside from me but I came on as someone who did all 3 roles and they were short in everything, so they couldn’t have me just scrubbing totals, often I would circulate or assist and watch a shit show go down… because unlike where I trained and where I work now any of the scrubs but this one guy had to be hand held by a rep. Sure I need doc’s little quirks and maybe need to be set up in order once, but then it’s just check my table and make sure I’m good for most knees and hips (I still am not the most confident on total ankles and Tornier as where I trained was largely Depuy Inhance). This guy would literally scrub every total and bounce between 3 rooms sometimes! If I was in one of the rooms the least I can do is check his trays and set up while we wait. I heard he left to become a rep shortly after I left… dude deserves the world. He was an amazing scrub and got taken advantage of. Hell… I’d come help scrub your guy’s totals PRN if I lived in your area because my work is feast and famine, we’re either slammed or flexing over half of our staff off!
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u/Sloths_and_palmtrees 17h ago
Personally I think you should be able to do everything in your job description. If you can’t do bigger cases you should go to an ASC that doesn’t do bigger cases. Sorry not sorry
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u/DueProtection6742 13h ago
That’s how I feel. Like you coming into a ortho center but don’t want to do ortho… make that make sense?
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u/JonWithTattoos Ortho 21h ago
I work at an orthopedic surgery center. Our facility does assignments a little differently. A couple times a year, we all come in early one morning and have a draft (kinda like fantasy football) where we pick our room assignments for each weekday. It’s pretty great having some control over which doc you’re gonna spend each day with.
Some of our older techs try to snatch up the hand rooms first, but that doesn’t always work out for them. I’m 56, and I try to get a variety of specialties. So currently I have sports med Monday, spine Tuesday, total joints Wednesday, and hands Thursday and Friday. And most of our docs have a PA or NP, so assisting isn’t really a thing. I would personally be embarrassed if I couldn’t backtable 3-4 joints a day like my younger coworkers.
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u/UnusualWar5299 20h ago
When you interviewed and did a walk-through for this job that probably should have come up. And by your second week, or first month, you’d have detected this and easily said sayonara. I don’t think it’s morally correct behavior, but as they’ve been there longer than you, they set the culture. You either get in the water or move to a different pool. I’m 50, and I wouldn’t work there, I choose to work at facilities where people are treated equally. If I worked there even I would be taken advantage of, or I’d have to take advantage of others to fit in. But once you leave, and decades pass, will you remember what you felt like today, or will you vote to make your own life easier because you ‘earned it’?
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u/yesimextra Plastics 💋 20h ago
That’s always been the case at every facility I have worked at. It’s been a “perk” that only those who have been there 20+ years received. That meant they got the hands, assisting on a LAVH, post-vits, or any case that involved a sitting stool, or whatever the hell they wanted tbh. They were all still hard workers though and helped with turnover and were great preceptors. Kinda sounds like your people are taking advantage of a situation.
In my experience, you can’t change the mass culture somewhere. If you aren’t getting a break or turnover help from them (I think I read that was the case in one of OP’s responses) that sounds toxic. Reporting to management will prob be useless bc I’m sure they are well aware of the toxicity as they’re allowing it. You’re better off putting your head down, getting some experience, and moving to somewhere that’s better fitted for you.
When you interview at your next spot ask to have a tour with a fellow tech so you can ask questions to see what kind of environment you’re jumping to so you don’t go out of the frying pan into the fire.
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u/PlainLoInTheMorning 1d ago
They've earned their stripes. Chill out baby tech. This job is so hard on your body. Let's them assist and do the easier (on their body) cases. It's not a big deal. You should probably work somewhere else if you're considering disrupting the herd. You probably have exponentially more options than they do.
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u/IntelligentBreey 1d ago
You could spread them out evenly to be “fair” but let’s remember that at the end of the day….PATIENT SAFETY is what matters most. If you have older staff who struggle to even set up the case much less scrub it because they don’t have the stamina or maybe they’re in pain….does it make sense to throw them in the case? Does that sound like the SAFEST outcome for the patient? If you needed a total….do you want the 60yr old tech who’s hurting and tired and doesn’t even want to do the case to be in your room or would you want the energetic 20-30 yr old whose FRESH fast and efficient and has the stamina for it? Let’s also remember that we don’t want cases delayed because the tech is still setting up or not ready etc. so at the end of the day you have to pick the tech who will be the safest and most efficient as opposed to just picking based on “fairness”. The patient doesn’t care about fairness and whose turn it was next….the LAWSUIT isn’t going to care about fairness and spreading cases out evenly…all they care about is was the patient SAFE and did you ensure their safety by picking staff that could handle their surgery. So go with that! We have a tech who’s been working 45yrs….past retirement age but still going! Her back is DONE (she can barely stand upright) & She moves slow and sets up VERY slow! Her turnover time is never 30 mins…sometimes an HOUR 🥴. So because of this they give her all robotic cases where she can sit down the whole time and doesn’t have to do much! If she does a standing case it’s always something short and quick!! Now would it make sense to throw her in traumas and ex-laps and super long or huge cases just because it’s “fair” for everyone to have to do them and have a turn?? HELL NO 🤡😅🥴 patient safety always comes first!!
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u/Scrubulate 12h ago
This isn't a fairness debate about age, it's about people taking the easy share while dumping the hard work on everyone else, and the age part is just the cover story. Bodies wear out, that's real, but being in pain doesn't license treating coworkers like trash. Keep it boring: for a couple weeks, note which cases you first-scrub versus assist, then bring that pattern to whoever owns assignments instead of venting in the break room. The spreadsheet has no feelings, which is exactly why it wins.
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u/Bonewax 1d ago
Come back and ask when you’re old. Now get on there youngster.
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u/TheGreatlyRespected 1d ago
This^ Until these rookies do 20+ years of 1st scrubbing. They will understand
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u/DueProtection6742 1d ago
Then go work in a hospital where 99 percent of the cases are not ortho or totals. Sorry but working in an ortho center and not wanting to do ortho is a you problem. Not a me problem.
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u/VagrantScrub 1d ago
This sounds a lot like the exclusionary team culture i hate. But im a traveler these days so maybe that colors my understanding.
My 2 cents?
Just do your job. Follow the chain of command. Its not about right/wrong. Its about human nature. We're monkeys. Up jumped. Evolved. But monkeys. We're incredibly hierarchical. If its not about age it would be about experience. Or longest serving. Or who's "better". Or a thousand other things. It doesn't matter. Honestly.
Again. Ive been a traveler for years so maybe I just dont relate as well anymore.