“A relieved look on the patient’s face is the best thanks” – Juha’s journey from a tourism entrepreneur to an OR nurse educator
Keywords:Juha Putkonen was previously a tourism entrepreneur, but changed profession and became a registered nurse. He now has two demanding and interesting roles at Bridge Hospital’s surgery unit.
Juha Putkonen works as a nurse educator 60% of the time, and as a nurse anesthetist in operating rooms or recovery rooms. “Treating patients in the OR is the best thing about being a nurse anesthetist.”
Photo Mikko Hinkkanen / HUS
“My work is versatile, I encounter unexpected things and new patient groups. Treating severe multiple injuries is professionally very interesting,” says Juho Putkonen, who is a nurse educator and a nurse anesthetist at Bridge Hospital’s Anesthesia and Surgery Unit.
“A relieved look on the patient’s face is the best thanks.”
Caring for patients as a nurse anesthetist is rewarding, while as a nurse educator he ensures future competence.
“As a nurse educator, I get to look at our work from different angles and think how it could be improved. What is the know-how we need to treat patients now and in the future?”
Desire to help people sparked a career change
Previously Putkonen was an entrepreneur in the tourism industry and ran canoeing and adventure education businesses.
“When I took my customers to paddle on Lake Saimaa, I always stayed ashore for a while to make sure everything was in order. There I had time to think. I felt like I could do more for others and help people who cannot help themselves. This sparked the desire to start nursing studies in my thirties,” he explains.
After his graduation, Putkonen started working at the trauma ICU in Töölö Hospital, where he also worked in the medical emergency team (MET), and as a resuscitation and simulation instructor.
“I started working as a nurse anesthetist at the orthopedic surgery unit in Töölö Hospital via job rotation–and here I am still. What attracted me to the operating room was the different work rhythm compared to the ICU. In an operating room, things are happening all the time and the situations change rapidly.”
"What attracted me to the operating room was the different work rhythm compared to the ICU."
Workplace community and shared sense of humor give strength
The surgery unit in Bridge Hospital houses neurosurgery, hand surgery, orthopedics and traumatology. The most demanding trauma patients are treated at Bridge Hospital. Therefore, the focus is on emergency services.
“The best thing about our work community is humor, and we also have fun together outside work. There is a certain openness that connects us. We always support each other.”
An operating room to support orientation
As a nurse educator, Putkonen regularly arranges classes, lectures, workshops, and resuscitation training for the ward’s staff. He has been involved from the start in planning the use of and simulations in the unique RAPTOR suite, which is meant for treating patients with critical injuries.
Putkonen is also in charge of instructions and supports new employees during their orientation. The current plan is to open an operating room for teaching.
“The teaching OR is for employees at the beginning of their orientation. It has a slower tempo, so that everyone can learn the basics of the work in easier surgeries. It is a good starting point for more intense orientation.”
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