The Arnold Chair Mystery: How a Joke Strengthened Our OR Team

My career spans 38 years, with 28 of those dedicated to the operating room. Over the years, I’ve worn many hats: staff nurse, charge nurse, team lead, clinical manager, RNFA—you name it. In 2003, I earned my CNOR certification, which coincided with my transition to RNFA. Later, in 2020, I completed my master’s in nursing (MSN) with a focus on healthcare informatics, and for more than a decade, I’ve served as a Senior System Analyst for surgical services. This diverse career has given me a unique perspective on the challenges and rewards of perioperative nursing.

One moment from my career still makes me laugh to this day. While working as a perioperative nurse manager of neurosurgery and spine at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, we were preparing for a posterior fossa craniectomy for an Arnold-Chiari malformation. Amidst the usual pre-op hustle, our circulating nurse suddenly went on a determined search for the “Arnold Chair.” She was convinced there was a special chair designed specifically for this procedure.

Turns out, there's no such thing as an “Arnold Chair.”

When she finally realized the “Arnold Chair” didn’t exist, the look of surprise on her face was quickly replaced by laughter from her and the rest of the team. To keep the joke alive, we humorously designated a regular chair as the “Arnold Chair.” And it became a lasting reminder of that day.

This experience is a perfect example of how humor can lighten the mood in high-pressure environments. That one moment of shared laughter diffused the stress and brought our team closer together. Even in the intensity of surgical cases, those small, funny moments can make all the difference.