Re: Becoming an OR Nurse!
Congrats on your upcoming graduation! I knew too from my OR rotation in nursing school that the OR was the only place I wanted to be. Ever.
That being said, I would STRONGLY suggest that you work on a med-surg floor for at least a year (minimum) or (preferrably) two. I worked in the OR for over 17 years, but the two years I worked in med-surg (required before applying for an OR position in my day) were invaluable. You need to learn to be a nurse before becoming an RN in a specialty. The reality shock between nursing school and nursing cannot be overstated and there really is all that stuff about developing critical thinking skills, prioritization, judgement, timing and plain old hands-on task performance.
I currently co-teach a perioperative training class to bring nurses into the OR. It is a 6 month program; approximately 2/3 of the GNs/new RNs drop out or fail the course because they simply don't have the basic nursing skills necessary to build on to develop specialty skills. Trust me, your preceptor wants to teach you how to be an OR nurse, not how to insert a foley, hang an IVPB, start an IV or any of the other things we expect you to perform effortlessly.
I am sure there are other points of view, I am just expressing what I have experienced. I do not want to discourage you from becoming an OR nurse, but I want to encourage you to be as successful as possible when you do become one.
Nursing News