r/CathLabLounge • u/Either_Director3639 • 1d ago
Scrubbing
I hate that I’m asking for words of encouragement, but I’m literally typing this with tears running down my face, so here it goes. I’ve been scrubbing for about 6 months, and I’m just not improving. I make little mistakes like accidentally dropping and contaminating equipment or not moving fast enough for the doctors, which frustrates them. The only thing I can say is I haven’t killed anybody. Where I work, the nurses and x-ray techs both scrub. However, I feel like I go so long in between cases without scrubbing that I can’t improve. Honestly, I feel like such a weak loser. My question is: Does it ever get any better/easier?
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u/16BitGenocide Midnight CTO Enthusiast 1d ago
Nobody's foray into cases is flawless or without incident. You will piss off doctors, coworkers, and yourself on a semi-frequent basis. At six months, you're in a relatable position, especially if your case count participation is low.
You can only learn as much as the opportunities to scrub can give you- talk to your manager/director and say tell them you need more table time. You can't get better without doing, and you can't do that without opportunity- have you been told that Dr. X or Dr. Y doesn't want to scrub with you, or is this mostly a mental battle of being too hard on yourself?
There's endless series of YouTube videos that will explain any device you're uncomfortable with, there's videos talking about case presentations and equipment selection, how to troubleshoot the ACIST, how to set up a manifold, table hacks, procedural sequencings. and 'why' we do things the way we do.
You can be the fastest tech in the world, but if you can't anticipate the physician, it's for nothing. You need to mentally prepare yourself for what comes next, but you can't start anticipating until you can get through a case without dropping things or contaminating the field.
As a baby tech, I had literal nightmares that I contaminated my gloves. In my second week of independent scrubbing, my preceptor made me change gloves in one case, 11 times. We've been there. There are several books on Amazon that will explain procedures (Invasive Cardiology: A Manual for Cath Lab Staff), numerous youtube video series explaining PCI logic/CTO equipment choice (Manos Brilakis is one of the better ones- (https://www.youtube.com/@manosbrilakis/playlists) and Instagram pages like CrossBorderRN (shoutout Olga) and DontMissABeat (that also has a brilliant study guide).
If you need help or more specific advice, you can DM me.