Comparing Wages in the OR setting

Specialties Operating Room

Published

I work in a small town ambulatory surgery center.There are only five of us nurses. 4 Rn's and 1 LPN. The patients who come in only receive conscious sedation. We have no general anesthesia.

My questions might be a little bold to be asking. I was wondering what kind of wages are being paid to be an OR nurse.

I am now getting 17.89 an hour. I am fairly new in this field. I graduated with a ADN in 1999. I was just curious and was wondering what was out there in terms of wages.

dmclung

In our ASC (plastic surgery), we have all RNs and pay them $33.00 per hour without benefits. They all freelance in the area and are in high demand. They all scrub, circulate and do recovery. We are probably looking at a $2.00 hour raise in January.

I must say that our RNs are true professionals, do not complain, are more patient oriented than surgeon oriented and are critical to the surgeons' sucess. We all get gifts and letters frequently from happy patients who say the best surgical experience they have ever had was in our facility.

It is not perfect, but I think when you respect people, let them do their work well and pay them accordingly everyone wins.

I know that our facility is different than most hospitals and big ASCs, but neither myself or the surgeon/owner are big on rules and policies. Since I have a law degree, many people are surprised when they hear my attitude, but when you expect everyone to do what is right and they do it, a lot of words on papers and and Little Hitlers trying to enforce them are a waste of time, money and resources.

i am sure I will get a lot of arguments about this.

YogaCRNA

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Originally posted by yoga crna

It is not perfect, but I think when you respect people, let them do their work well and pay them accordingly everyone wins.

I know that our facility is different than most hospitals and big ASCs, but neither myself or the surgeon/owner are big on rules and policies. Since I have a law degree, many people are surprised when they hear my attitude, but when you expect everyone to do what is right and they do it, a lot of words on papers and and Little Hitlers trying to enforce them are a waste of time, money and resources.

i am sure I will get a lot of arguments about this.

YogaCRNA

You will get no arguments from me!! yogacrna espouses the attitude of the best nurse managers to work for, and the reason I choose to work in California rather than Oregon.

I hate being micromanaged by people who are in reality little more than the "Little Hitlers" she describes--worse, they are often not even operating room nurses, or have been out of operating room nursing for so long that they have no clue what we face in our daily quests to deliver optimal patient care.

I get so tired of working in operating rooms where the "managers" are still wasting time, words, money and staff meeting agendas on trying to reinvent the wheel--for example, going on ad nauseum about why we cannot wear cloth hats and why we must wear shoe covers in the OR and out of the suite, as well as cover gowns--all "sacred cows" that should have been laid to rest long ago--while we are scrambling to find the proper staplers, enough suture, working Bovies, even an adequate number of lifts and sit-down stools to get through a case--don't get me started. Of course, their mantra when a complaint is voiced as to unsafe patient care: "You people are lucky to have jobs. They are laying off nurses all over the country."

Sadly, there are young OR nurses who cannot function, or make any sort of independent nursing decision,--even in a crisis, when seconds matter-- without running to see how it is addressed in the "Policy and Procedure Manual."

Really, some have never learned to use critical thinking skills, let alone common sense--and it is largely because of these micromanager, "Little Hitler" types for whom they work, as described by yogacrna.

I think I will go and do a travel assignment for yogacrna.

shodobe, where are you--let's go, you and I! Long as it is not too cold wherever she is! Her attitude: "...when you respect people, let them do their work well and pay them accordingly everyone wins--" says it all.

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.
:cool: stevierae, I am here but looking out the window as the mountain burns! I am glad I don't live here anymore because I already went through this in 1980. Our wages are getting better and we are due for a raise next month and I should be up to about 36.50/hr. We start negotiating for a new contract after the first of the year, should be interesting. I do get upset seeing how wages vary so widely around the country and feel sorry for those who are really stuck in their job because they can't move or whatever. I guess I am lucky that I live in California because with all of it's supposedly bad things, we still do well in the salary game. Right now with the new ratios coming into effect this Jan I heard the hospital here has gotten rid of our transcription department. I know they are going to blame it on needing the funds to hire more nurses to meet the ratio standards, so nurses will be the "bad guys". Got to go, World Series starting, Go Marlins!!!!!!!!! Mike
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I am a BSN since 1992. I currently coordinate ENT/Plastic Surgery. I make around $25/hr here in Utah. I have heard people make more and some make less. All around, pretty good pay with a great satisfaction at the end of the day.

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As a new grad at age 23, I started in the OR. I started out at $22.23/hr doing an OR internship with orientation for 9 months.

Christine

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After the classwork and internship you may be able to sit for the certifiying exam and become a CRNFA. I believe you need a BSN though to become certified.

Good luck; perioperative nursing is wonderful !

Paula (Posted)

---------------\-------------------------------------------

In Canada, you do not have to have a degree to apply for the RNFA program.

Check out: http://www.bcit.ca for there on line distance program.

FYI,

Sarah

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WOW some of those wages are just slightly above min. wage. i guess i feel pretty lucky just about now. justed started in the or 1 month ago. have exp. but that was 25years ago. starting hourly wage.....38.00.....$4/ on call with time and a half. great benifits, as a returning nurse, orientation to last 6-9mo, getting paid alot of $$ to learn.

sorry to everyone else for the wages not representitive to your hard earned work

first post!! happy to be here!!!!

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Specializes in ICU, Surgery.

Old thread alert.... These posts were started 6 years ago

Welcome to All Nurses!

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Specializes in Operating Room,, Plastic Surgery.

wow

10 years RN in Washington 32.60 / hour

base pay for RN is approx 23.70

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Graduated last year-1 years experiece in the OR and I make 24.62 an hour.

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Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

WOW.

This is an old thread, but check out emptynest's current starting salary for old experience.... 38 bux/hr. Am I reading that correctly?

How much experience in what area are you referring to?

Just curious

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i realize this is an old thread brought back from the dead but don’t get lost in how much others are getting paid without checking out all factors first.

don’t forget to figure the cost of living in. that is where most mistakes come into play. if a makes 20 per hour in the midwest and b makes 28 per hour in the west; for a a nice 3 bed house costs 100 k utilities are 200 per month and etc… while b costs 300k + for the same type of house and utilities combined are 400 or 500 per month etc…

when you try to figure rate of pays you must also consider cost of living. in the above scenario b actually makes less than a does in the long run.

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