[ortess1971]

I'm starting my orientation in the OR on Monday and am very excited...The orientation process is very boring though(the general graduate nurse orientation) I'm the only one of us going to the OR so a lot of the stuff they are covering doesn't apply. I did notice that many of my classmates are specializing right out of school. We have several ICU trainiees as well as ED. One of the older nurses who has been there forever asked me why I wanted the OR and didn't want med/surg. I almost said "because I don't have masochistic tendencies" but I behaved myself. We have had a couple of nurses come to us from the floors and they have just as hard a time orienting as a new grad with no experience because OR nursing is such a different beast. I am going to treasure the oppourtunity I have because several people wanted the OR spot but my manager only took one.(I have scrub tech experience so I'm sure that helped). Anyway, you'll be seeing me a lot more on this board with plenty of questions

[tessa_RN]

i know exactly how you feel...I scrubbed in there a year as a student nurse tech and as of last week I was a GN..I am the only on in the OR too..I bet you are glad being out of school..Coming home and not studying or worrying about a test is great..I just got done with hospital orientation Friday..I go to the OR this week and next week I have critical care training...After hospital orientation I was so glad to be back at home in the OR..

[CuttingEdgeRN]

Congrats to both of you and welcome HOME! The OR is truly a love it or hate it kind of place.

[RANCH GIRL]

Congratulations to both of you as well!! Please do post your experiences/questions. I'm also a former ST, finally starting the ADN-RN program this year, and I'm not sure if I want to go "home" to the OR. By the way, I've heard that there is a great demand for OR nurses as the current population of OR nurses will retire in the next 5-10 years or so. Have you become aware of such?

[ortess1971]

Yes, the shortage is starting to become more and more evident. When I was starting nursing school after about 3 years as an ST, I also didn't know if I wanted to become an OR nurse. The med/surg exposure I got in school quickly convinced me that I did. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of respect for med/surg nurses, but I think the understaffing, lack of support from administration, and the amount of patients they are given is an absolute crime. No, the OR isn't utopia all the time, but I love surgery, the fact that I only have 1 patient at any given time and the people I work with at my hospital. Even our surgeons(most of them) are down to earth and decent. The nursing shortage is going to get so bad that even if I want to leave the OR someday, I'm sure I'll be able to. I worked with a nurse that was an OR nurse for about 20 years and decided she wanted to work ER and they took her. I think you'll find that some of your instructors will say not so nice things about the OR(or any specialty) but it is your career. Pick the area that you are most interested in and don't let anyone stop you...

[RANCH GIRL]

Please update your orientation progression!