Between cases: the twenty minutes nobody talks about

Everyone asks about the surgery. Almost nobody asks about what happens in between.When one patient leaves theatre, the clock doesn't stop. The room gets cleaned and restocked, the anaesthetic machine gets its checks again, drugs are counted, airway equipment is reset, and the next patient's chart gets read properly instead of skimmed.Those twenty minutes decide how the next case goes. A rushed changeover is where forgotten items and missed doses live, so we treat the gap as part of the operation, not a pause.If you're ever waiting as a patient and things feel quiet, that quiet is someone doing the work that keeps you safe.General education, not medical advice.