[Pam RN]

Hi, it's been a while since I've posted on this site. I worked in the OR for five years scrubbing and circulating before burnout got the best of me. I had a nice position right out of college which offered me many opportunites, some of which I didn't take so seriously. For two years I was a charge nurse for a service, then I got antsy. I had moved to the "big city" when I started at that community hospital and wanted to try out one the big university hospitals and continue working in the same specialty I was in charge of. Well, that job at the university was a disaster. The place was managed terribly, the docs treated us like dirt and I was miserable so I bailed after 6 months. I could have transferred to the main OR from the specialty OR I was employed in but I was so fried I just quit.

I intended to take a month off that stretched to 4 months. Then I decided to switch gears and go work for a group of surgeons in their office. I've been there a year and a half learning all the things I felt I was missing by not working on the floor before the OR. I really like the docs and many aspects of the job. The people are pretty nice but I can't stand many of the clerical duties that come with the job. One of my duties is to be the "desk nurse" which required checking patients out by writing orders and scheduling tests, writing prescriptions which is OK. But, I have to answer the phone and act as a secretary/receptionist and take appointments, etc which is really getting to me. Today I thought my head was going to spin off from the phone ringing so much!

I have been re-evaluating where I want my career to go and have been thinking of returning to the OR at some point. I fear that I would go into another situation like the university hospital. My attempts at networking have only hit deadends. I can't seem to get conversations going with other nurses about nursing. I guess people clam up once they go home. How can I find out what the hospitals and OR's are like without knowing anyone working in there? Any advice?