A ramble here, so I apologize up front. TV and movie surgery / operating room behaviors that grind my gears. A preface, most OR staffing is as follows:
(1) The attending surgeon(s) is/are the one(s) performing the procedure. In training institutions, this can also include:
A) a resident (multiple levels) who assists and/or performs the procedure under the guidance of the attending surgeon
B) a fellow, who has graduated residency training and is now practicing/learning their sub-specialty
C) medical students (who are not yet doctors, and are present for the exposure/experience, but are not performing the operation), nursing students, and OR technology students (discussed later)
D) observers, normally limited to industry specific medical device representatives
(2) The anesthesia team, which consists of:
A) a CRNA (Certified RN Anesthetist), who performs the VAST majority of anesthesia monitoring and medication administration throughout the case. This is the person who "puts you to sleep" for the operation and monitors your vitals during the case.
B) the anesthesiologist, a medical doctor who supervises the CRNA and is usually present at the start (induction) of anesthesia, intubation, placing the patient on a ventilator, etc., but is NOT usually present in the room for the entire case. Anesthesiologists tend to provide a supervisory role, going from room to room, checking in on the CRNAs, giving breaks when needed, keeping the schedule flowing, etc. In certain parts of the U.S., only CRNAs are present, without Anesthesiologist supervision. This varies by state, but tends to be practiced in more remote, rural areas.
C) Anesthesia assistant, basically a runner who helps gets things set-up for the procedure
(3) A circulating nurse. This is the person who is the OR coordinator for the procedure. They do not perform or assist with the operation directly, but perform documentation, gather needed equipment or instrumentation during the procedure, help bring the patient into the OR and take the patient to the Recovery Room (now called the PACU in most places, Post-Anesthesia-Care-Unit)
(4) The "scrub nurse", who in most case is NOT a nurse, but instead is an Operating Room Technologist, sometimes called a Certified ORT. This is a person with a community college level degree in OR Technology, the one who sets up the instruments, sponges, sutures, etc. for the procedure, and is scrubbed in and assists the surgeon throughout. While there are still some RNs who perform this direct assistant role, that is much less common nowadays.
There is a flow to all of this, and highly specific aseptic and sterile techniques are used across the industry (this stuff is highly standardized) to prevent infection risks and potential patient harm.
1) Surgeons walking into the OR while talking to each other, without wearing their face masks, only to have the Circulating Nurse place the mask on the surgeon once in the OR. THIS. NEVER. HAPPENS. IN. REAL. LIFE. You place you mask on BEFORE you scrub your hands at the sink OUTSIDE the room. Period. During a sterile procedure, EVERYONE who enters the room MUST have their mask in place... breathing/talking/coughing can generate microscopic specs of saliva that can waft across the room and land on the sterile instruments, on the patient, etc.
2) Surgeons standing at the OR table with their elbows at their side, sharply bent and their forearms up in the air, is such a cliche and unnatural pose that no one does this for any length of time. The idea is to keep your arms within the sterile field, a "strike zone" of sorts to make sure you don't bump anything/anyone when gowned and gloved, to reduce contaminating yourself. The "strike zone" of sterility is from your shoulders to your waist, you want to keep your hands and arms in front of you at all times, within this zone.
With rare exception, we do NOT stand like this:
Usually, we are holding instruments, or resting our hands on the operative field (which is covered by sterile blankets/drapes). You CAN stand with your arms folded across your chest:
3) Everybody in a bad mood and yelling at each other. Even during INTENSE moments in the OR, everyone is not screaming at each other. You can have a frustrated member of the OR team lash out from time to time, or the surgeon curse when something isn't going right, but this is usually a WTF type moment, not a continuous bickering throughout the case. Getting into a verbal fight in the OR affects patient care, and isn't done as much as Film and TV would have you believe.
4) The surgeon with an attitude yells: "Get out of MY OR!" Spare me. This is old school, and is not a tolerated behavior nowadays. Yes, there are RARELY times when a person needs to be removed or leave, but this is an uncommon exception.
5) "Call the OR, tell them we're coming now!!!" as the surgeon grabs the stretcher and pushes the patient up to the OR doors. Even in emergency cases, the OR has to get things ready. And the OR isn't on constant standby with a bunch of people twiddling their thumbs, hanging out, waiting for someone to come crashing through the doors. There ARE emergencies that require RAPID operative intervention, where every second counts... but there is a process involved. The OR isn't a Drive-Thru.
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