Reference no: EM133522082

Scenario:

You are the Surgical Technologist setting up the surgical case (procedure) and the patient has not entered the operating room yet. You are scrubbed in, which means you are sterile and setting up all sterile supplies and instruments.

The circulating RN assigned to work with you in that operating room for the day is still checking the patient in and has not yet returned to the room. As you move in a proper aseptic technique fashion you retrieve sterile instruments from a properly opened hard sided sterile pan. As you place the inner instrument basket onto your back table ( which is also sterile) you cannot find a sterility indicator inside the basket. As you walk back to the empty hard sided pan still on the table, you gaze inside to see if you see an indicator, and you do not see any indicator of any kind.

At that very moment, your circulator walks into the room to continue helping you set up. The circulator immediately announces the Surgeon is already pacing and is very annoyed the case is not started yet. Your circulator then states, "that this case better get started or we are all going to get yelled at". Tensions are increasing just with those statements.

1. What will you do? Why are you choosing this option, and is there another option you have?

2. What could happen if you say nothing? How does the concepts of surgical conscience effect options, communication, and outcomes?