Storytelling in OR Nursing

Title Storytelling in OR Nursing

Foreword
In the field of Operation Nursing storytelling is exemplified both in hearing stories of accidents from patients and then reporting these stories to both the physicians and coworkers involved. The purpose of this communication is to inform the surgeon before he sees the patient so he has an idea of what is going on and what tests they need to run. These stories are usually given both orally and in writing. Orally to coworkers and doctors and also documented in writing. The way these stories are conveyed are very different in both situations. The length of the story also may vary depending on the circumstances but is usually more concise and informative in writing then orally.

This is a story I produced based on my experience working in the medical field and represents what most medical field reporting is like.  It is also similar to my story of hurting my knee just from the nurse’s perspective. The story is created to be more specific to OR nursing.

Example Story

This is an example of what a nurse would report to the surgeon orally after collecting information from a patient.

The patient was playing basketball and reports falling to the ground in pain after doing a post move turning her knee laterally. She waited 2 days and the swelling didn’t go down so she came in. I think she may have a ripped ACL or meniscus. She brought in MRI scans that are in the office and may be helpful to determine if the ACL is completely torn. We may also need to drain fluid off to see if it is in fact and ACL tare.

Analysis

The purpose of this story telling is to both inform and persuade. It is to inform the Surgeon about what you can observe in a concise manner so that he doesn’t have to spend time picking the information out from the original patient’s story. The report is also used to persuade the doctor to run the tests that the nurse feels are necessary. Using semi-formal language makes it possible to convey the message concisely while still allowing room for persuasion and the nurse’s point of view. If you were conveying information to the patient your language would be a lot less formal.

Retelling the Story

This is an example of how a nurse would document this story.

The patient Laycee Liston came in at 5:30 pm and was assessed to have a torn ACL. MRI scans are assessed to determine the extent of the ACL injury. The knee fluid will also be tested. The patient exhibited symptoms of excessive knee fluid and a warm temperature in the knee. The patient reported a basketball incident in which she turned laterally before collapsing with knee pain.

The purpose of this documentation is not to convince but to give an accurate objective account of the story. It is not as persuasive because it is supposed to be void of emotion and opinion. The purpose of this is not to persuade using emotion but logic. Is then used in case of a legal liability to give logical documented evidence that all practices were preformed correctly. I put the basketball portion of the evidence after the information because the hard evidence is most important in this form of reporting.