Sms Hospital

We spend most of our daylight hours here in the anaesthesia wing of the ortho OT II at SMS Hospital. It's a busy corner of the building. People are always moving. You see nurses checking charts and doctors talking in low voices about the next case. The floors stay clean because they have to, but there's a certain smell of disinfectant that never really leaves your clothes. We handle a lot of bone surgeries here. Patients come in looking worried, and our job is mostly about keeping things steady. It’s not a quiet place, really. There’s the hum of machines and the sound of metal carts being pushed down the hallway. Sometimes the air conditioning is too cold, so we wear extra layers under our scrubs. We take our tea breaks when we can get them, usually standing up in the small break area. It’s hard work, and the days feel long when there are many back-to-back cases. We just try to get through the list and make sure everyone is okay. The waiting area outside gets crowded with families. You see them sitting on the benches, just waiting for news. We see a lot of people on their toughest days, and it makes you think about things differently. It isn't fancy, just a functional part of the hospital where we do what needs doing every single day. We often lose track of time because there are no windows in the surgery area. You just work until the list is finished.