[RNOTODAY]

I have a question...... Do any of you think that OR nursing is not 'really" "nursing" at all? I mean what we do is important, but, when you compare it to the other areas of nursing, I think it is so very different. I was thinking the other day, I dont even bring a stethoscope to work!!! I have no need for one, dont start IV's, dont give any meds, although I retrieve them from pyxis, give them to the field, abx to anesthesia, etc..... but.....not that I cant say I mind this, as I have really no interest at all in med surg floor type nursing.....which is why I guess I was drwan to the OR.but what do you all think? My manager even said, in a half joking way, "this is not nursing, this is the OR!!!"

[Marie_LPN, RN]

I think it's a different kind of nursing. Would never think or say that it's not really nursing, i know better than to do that.

Same as those that say you always lose your skills or don't use your skills once you start working in the OR. Maybe some people don't but i certainly haven't lost mine, and use it everyday.

[suzanne4]

I have started IVs many times in the OR, you are responsible for what is going on in the room at any given time.

Use of a defibrillator, and many more times than they use it on the floor, especially in heart rooms.

There are many, many different types of nursing and that is what makes it so nice. There is something to fit almost everyone.

OR Nursing is REAL NURSING. Look at all of the equipment that you need to know how to use? Instruments that you need to know the names of? Uses of? Types of needles and sutures, and their uses?

It is just different from floor nursing, with a different set of skills. You may lose some of your floor skills, but you gain many others. Just depends on how you look at it.

[icugirl33]

Hello,

I think as long as you need to be licensed as a nurse to perform the duties, it's nursing. I don't think you can get someone of the street corner to be in the OR and do what you do. You are just lucky enough to have the patients' unconscious & no family members around to harass you.

[ortess1971]

Originally Posted by Marie_LPN

I think it's a different kind of nursing. Would never think or say that it's not really nursing, i know better than to do that.

Same as those that say you always lose your skills or don't use your skills once you start working in the OR. Maybe some people don't but i certainly haven't lost mine, and use it everyday.

[RNOTODAY]

Interesting, thanks for your replies everyone.......Unfortunately, all IV's are started by anesthesia in my hospital....but I get to start the occasional pedi ones, since I have alot of experience with them....I am also not used to handing meds off to the sterile field, where I have no more control over it!!!! I guess I will get used to it......I do like it, and am excited to learn it all........

[shodobe]

I start IVs, I give meds. I continously correct the mistakes the floor nurses make on a daily basis. So what's the question? I guess I am in a different position because I do all this. You wouldn't even believe all the things that slip by from a M/S nurse or Peds nurse not noticing. Lab values all wrong, not "really" NPO, patients asking me questions the floor nurse "should" be able to answer. All the nurses who work in my department have to do this on a daily basis because they, the outside nurses, aren't really doing their job. So you can see I really would resent a comment from anyone who would say we aren't really doing "real nursing". I am sure this happens all over the country where seasoned OR nurses are constantly covering the fact that some outside nurses really don't know what they are doing when getting patients ready for surgery, doing the checklist from top to bottom. Sorry, this kind of stuff really peeves me, just because we are out of the public's eye we don't exist as nurses. Good night

[Corvette Guy]

Been there, done that...

[SmilingBluEyes]

Different skils sets.....still nursing.

This need not be an "us versus them" thing.....

Floor nurses make mistakes. Lab techicians do too. So do OR nurses.

I respect nursing as a PROFESSION, no matter what "hat" we may wear.

[joannep]

I can understand your concern. Perhaps I can help ... after 15 years in the OR I decided to change back to a ward job. Within hours of starting I realised that I knew so much more than what the ward nurses knew, even the senior staff. I'll give you an example, I came on to a shift where the patient needed a chest drain put in asap, on the floor. The ward staff were running around not knowing what equipment was needed, or where to get it. One phone call by me got it organised, and I helped the surgeon put it in. He was very surprised to see me, and recognised me. The ward staff were stunned that I just breezed through, they were very stressed.
Every arrest we had, I was there, managing the airway, assisting the intubation. That was second nature to me.
They learn't to respect that I had knowledge that they didn't have, and that I could cope with stressful situations with ease.
I stayed out of the OR for two years, and then went back, with a new respect for what it was like for the nurses on the "outside".