Ideas That Work: Tools to Reset Emotions in the OR

Practical pearls from your colleagues

The concept of emotional intelligence has progressively gained a foothold in our culture during the 21st century, and there are few environments that can use it more than the pressure-packed, fast-paced and sometimes emotionally combustible environments that are our ORs.

At the center of this perpetually smoldering fire are perioperative nurses who must constantly juggle their often-conflicting responsibilities to their patients, their surgeons, their perioperative teams and their employers.

Emotional intelligence is a key tool they can rely upon to navigate overwhelming moments, build resilience, strengthen teamwork and thrive.

In a recent edition of Periop Life, a publication by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), perioperative nurse and certified emotional intelligence consultant Joana Afonso, RN, explains how surgical staff must learn to pause, self-regulate and appropriately respond to stressful moments and difficult situations in the OR, rather than react inappropriately due to pressure.

In this graphic, she lays out TIPP, an emotional reset technique that nurses and other surgical staff can employ when things get to be, well, too much.

Take a deeper dive with Ms. Afonso regarding TIPP and emotional intelligence in the OR in the full Periop Life article. OSM