Secrets from the Operating Room: My Experiences, Observations, and Reflections as a Surgical Salesman - Softcover

Chaudoin, Curtis M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1475991665 ISBN 13: 9781475991666

Verlag: iUniverse, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

Every year, one out of every ten people will need to have a surgical procedure. The majority of those needing surgery know nothing about the operating room or surgery. In Secrets from the Operating Room, author Curtis M. Chaudoin provides objective information and strategies to help improve the state and outcome of patient care before, during, and after surgery. With more than thirty-seven years of experience as an operating room surgical salesman, Chaudoin gained an insider's understanding of the often secretive world of surgery. In Secrets from the Operating Room, he narrates what it's like to work as a surgical salesman and provides an overview of the state of health care. He also discusses surgical corporations and their risks and profits, and he presents an overview of hospitals and how things have changed over the years. He details the roles of the surgeons and support staff, shows how to conduct the proper research before having surgery, and offers an understanding of what happens inside the surgery suite. Secrets from the Operating Room gives you a glimpse into the business of surgery and answers important questions about what you should know if you need an operation to increase your chances of a successful outcome.

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SECRETS from the OPERATING ROOM

My Experiences, Observations, and Reflections as a Surgical Salesman

By Curtis M. Chaudoin

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Curtis M. Chaudoin
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-9166-6

Contents

Preface What I Want to Accomplish.........................................
vii
Introduction About Health Care............................................
xi
Chapter 1 The Life and Views of a Surgical Salesman.......................
1
Chapter 2 Surgical Corporations...........................................
15
Chapter 3 Understanding Hospitals.........................................
27
Chapter 4 The Operating Room Suite........................................
52
Chapter 5 OR Nurses and Surgical Technicians..............................
63
Chapter 6 Surgeons........................................................
69
Chapter 7 What to Do If You Need Surgery..................................
85
Chapter 8 Memories from the Past..........................................
94
Chapter 9 In Conclusion...................................................
139

CHAPTER 1

The Life and Views of aSurgical Salesman

An Overview

After graduating from high school, I enrolled at theUniversity of Kansas. I studied journalism and English.In 1971, I graduated with a bachelor of science injournalism. I was ready for the business world andall the exciting opportunities that were soon to bemine. At least, that was my perspective as an immaturecollege graduate.

I will never forget a conversation that I had with myfather at a party after college graduation. During theconversation, he said that there are four kinds of peoplein the business world. There are liars, whores, pimps,and thieves. And that they will do anything for money,power, and sex. He stated that if you are able to find agood, honest businessperson as a mentor, you will bea blessed person and enjoy your work. If not, your lifewill be a living hell. With that, he further emphasizedthat it is more important for whom you work ratherthan where.

As a very young man, I did not really understand thatthose words were pearls of wisdom. I was eager tocapture the world. But I was too naïve to understandthe world that I was about to enter, and how difficultthat world would be. Now, after forty years in thebusiness world, mostly in health care, I realize howbrilliant my father was. I understand how true thosewords of wisdom really are.

Since 1975, I have been employed as an OR surgicalsalesman. During that time, I have worked for severaldifferent surgical companies. Besides the OR, I haveworked in every procedural area in the hospital,including obstetrics, cardiac catheterization lab, GIlab, and the emergency room.

In my sales career, I have sold sterilization productsand sterilizers, antiseptics and disinfectants, surgicalscrub solutions, surgical drapes, surgical gowns,ECG electrodes, wound care dressings, surgicalinstruments, and surgical equipment. I have conductedhundreds of regular product in-services and lecturedhundreds of CEU educational programs for OR nursingstaffs. I have worked in and assisted in thousands ofsurgical procedures. And I have witnessed every kindof operation that can be performed, including an SRS.That is sex reassignment surgery, or a sex changeprocedure.

My ability to gain access into the surgical sales fieldwas a stroke of luck. Years ago, most companies thatmanufactured and sold surgical devices required thatcandidates have prior surgical sales experience beforethey would hire you. I had never worked in the medicalfield. I had no prior surgical sales experience. If youdo not have surgical or even medical sales experienceand cannot be hired, how do you get surgical salesexperience so that you will be hired?

I was employed with one of the larger and moresuccessful consumer product companies in the world.They manufacture and sell a variety of cleaning productsto retail, institutional, and industrial consumers. Iworked as a sales representative in their institutionaldivision. The company wanted to start a surgicaldivision, and I was asked to join. I was one of fivesalespeople, out of over thirty thousand employees,selected to start and operate this new division. Itsounded exciting, and I accepted the offer. Heck, itwas a nice increase in salary. And I believed that itwould be a more prestigious position. Who would notwant to have an increase in pay and advancement inposition in the business world?

I received my first surgical training at a world-renowneduniversity hospital in a large southern state. The trainingwas conducted by the nurse educator for the hospitaloperating room. She was extremely experienced andsavvy. She was very professional and took her nursingresponsibility seriously.

Most OR nurses are very serious about their profession.They are very dedicated to and feel very passionateabout patient care. My nurse educator was an ardentmember of the AORN, or Association of periOperativeRegistered Nurses. The AORN is an association that isvery important to all OR nurses. It is this organizationthat strives to improve patient care in the OR and activelyworks to maintain and improve safety standards.There are chapters in every city or county area acrossthe United States.

My first round of training lasted for three weeks. Therewere many topics and subjects to learn. We were taughtthe proper attire in the OR and how it should be worn;patient privacy issues; OR sterile fields; movement inand out of the OR; conduct in the OR suite; principlesregarding asepsis, infection control, and safety; andfire risks. We were not allowed in any working OR, toactively view any surgical procedures, until after thefirst full week of training. There was a lot to see andabsorb. There would be many more training coursesin the months and years ahead.

My first day working in the operating room and viewingsurgery was quite an overwhelming experience. I didnot become nervous, ill, or feel faint. That is commonfor first-timers in surgery. It was the incredible array ofprocedures that I witnessed. The first procedure that Iobserved was a disarticulation below the right knee. It isalso known as an amputation. It was slightly shocking.The second case that I monitored was an abdominalhysterectomy. Not as riveting as an amputation, butunnerving. It was the third procedure that shocked mebeyond belief!

A teenage man was brought into the OR to have backsurgery. It was a trauma case. He was involved in a caraccident and arrived at the hospital by ambulance. Hewas immediately brought to the OR from the emergencyroom. The OR team took him from the ER stretcher,placed him on the surgical table, and began preppinghim for surgery. Within minutes, he went into cardiacarrest. Immediately, the OR team began CPR and wentfor the crash cart. The mood in the OR quickly changedfrom relaxed and congenial to emergency mode. Loudvoices, direct mandates, and quick actions prevailed.The circulating nurse told me to immediately leave theroom. I quickly responded to her mandate and went tothe OR nurses' lounge.

Approximately one hour later, she came to the loungeand told me that the young man had expired. Shecould see that I was quite shaken. She was very kindas she explained to me why I had to leave the OR andthe appropriate protocol...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: iUniverse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1475991665
• ISBN 13: 9781475991666
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 156
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland