Baylor operating room: past, present, future

Judith Brumm, RN, CNOR

Throughout Baylor's history, nurses have worked alongside surgeons in the operating room (OR). Their roles, however, have changed through the years. Some tasks-such as spending hours sterilizing instruments and preparing materials-have been eliminated, and new functions have been added. This article focuses on the changing tasks of nurses in the OR. It begins with a section on the training of OR nurses, reviews practices and methods for preparation of sterile supplies in the 1940s and 1950s, and closes with a snapshot of OR nursing in the decades since 1940. A sidebar recounts OR nurses' personal experiences.