Full-time shifts in the OR

shodobe · Jul 26, 2007

Most hospital ORs that I know of have anything from 8 hour shifts to 10, and 12. I think it really depends where you are or what part of the country you want to go to. I have worked 10s for the past 20 years.

ewattsjt · Jul 26, 2007

It depends on where you are and what is really open. Most our 10 and 12 hour shifts are taken by in house nursing first, which leaves the 8hr for new hires.

wild.river_777 · Jul 27, 2007

My only nursing experience in the o.r was when I was a student. Will this matter so much if i wanted to work as an o.r nurse? Or still the same, you will be trained at the beginning?

Also, during full time shifts, does this mean you are assisting operation the whole time? Or are there periods of rest before another schedule?

brewerpaul · Jul 27, 2007

We work 7 to 3, with a half hr lunch, so days are actually 7.5 hr.

ewattsjt · Jul 27, 2007

My only nursing experience in the o.r was when I was a student. Will this matter so much if i wanted to work as an o.r nurse? Or still the same, you will be trained at the beginning?
Also, during full time shifts, does this mean you are assisting operation the whole time? Or are there periods of rest before another schedule?

How much you observed as a student is irrelevant.

OR nursing and floor nursing is so different, that you will have to be trained for the OR. You will generally be on orientation (precepted by another nurse) for about six months (some places more, some less).

"Assisting the whole time" depends on your case and what role you are in. If you are circulating, you can usually get a break by either a relief nurse or in between cases if they are not long. If you are scrubbed in, they will try to get you relieved (from my experience it is less often {I am also a male so that may have some bearing on it}).

Some docs do not allow room change so you are "stuck" until the case is over no matter what. You will learn to "potty", get a drink, get a snack, etc... before your cases, just in case. Most of the time there isn't a problem with getting you out if need be.

This is one of those things that you will not really have to worry about. It will come with time and while you are training your bladder, etc... you will be on orientation, so you will have someone to get your back!

MamaCheese · Jul 28, 2007

We have 8, 10, and 12 hour shifts in our OR. The 10 hour shifts seem to be the most popular and sought after where I work.

ewattsjt · Jul 28, 2007

Oh, one more thing. Around here; the starting shifts are 3rd then 2nd shifts. One can move to second shift pretty quickly, but it takes a couple of years to move to a day shift spot.

Chaoticdreams33, MSN, RN · Jul 31, 2007

Hmm, I was told that I'd have to do days for a year until I could move to nights!

I'd love to do 10's, but I'm probably gonna be stuck with 8's. If I get a position in the OR at all!!! I'm already ahead of myself...

I think it depends of facility.

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Aug 4, 2007

Hmm, I was told that I'd have to do days for a year until I could move to nights!
I'd love to do 10's, but I'm probably gonna be stuck with 8's. If I get a position in the OR at all!!! I'm already ahead of myself...
I think it depends of facility.

If you get an OR position-take full advantage of the learning oppourtunities and don't let them push you before you are ready. Maybe it's not a bad thing that you'll do days for a year before you go to nights. In my case, I had been out of school for 9 months ,had been an RN for 6 months, and I was running the board on evenings.(when the evening boss wasn't there). Keep in mind that some of the split shift older nurses didn't take my inexperience in management into consideration-they complained that I wasn't as good at running the board as the guy who had been doing it for 3 years!! I left that facility because while my preceptor was awesome, once you were off orientation, they expected you to function at the same level as someone who had been there 20 plus years. Just know that you will make mistakes, I just kept them to simple mistakes that didn't kill or hurt anyone. If you can do that, you're golden!