Just got hired!!

Congrats!!! I am also a soon to be graduate. May 2009 and just got offered a position as an OR nurse! I cant believe it because it was quite an interview, I had to convince the managers and director to hire a new grad to the OR and I succeeded. I have 20 years previous health care experience that includes working in an OR. Im an older graduate and I know what I want and this was it!

Congratulations!
If I had one piece of advice it would be to know your OR hospital policies and procedures very well. Also read AORN (American Operating Room Nursing) Standards. If you are going to be mentored by many different nurses throughout
your nursing orientation you will need this information. Some nurses may give you inaccurate information especially if they have less than one year of nursing. (IMHO these nurses should not be orienting other nurses but it happens.) There are different ways to go about doing various tasks and both may be correct. There are also incorrect ways of implementing tasks as well. If you are not familiar with your hospitals P&P and the standards you will not be able to identify correct and incorrect OR nursing practices.

There are some nurses who do not follow AORN recommended practices. I see nurses who prep incorrectly, count without visualizing the instruments, cruise the internet while circulating...I could go on and on.

Your job in perioperative nursing is to be the patients eye, ears and voice while they are under general anesthesia (or any anesthesia for that matter.) Always treat your patients as if they are a member of your family and you will become an excellent perioperative nurse. After all each one of your patients is someones husband, wife, sister, brother, child or friend.

You have made a wise decision to become an OR nurse. It is a tremendous responsibility and one that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Best of luck with your new perioperative nursing career!

I just qualified as a nurse too and start in theatres on the 7th September. I'm so excited, but REALLY nervous too.

How's yours going?

i was just hired as an OR nurse after a floor nurse for 2 years. I thought i was interview for a critical care position but it ended up with an OR position by accident...and they hired me..but i didnt know if i really wanted to do Or id idnt know if i will like it or not..should I try it out? i was on a cardiacthoaraic floor andwe also have astep down unit too...do u think i will fit in to thr OR? anyone?

I start my OR residency Monday. I am so excited. I knew that was the field for me and decided to only apply for OR. I know that was risky being a new RN but that was how passionate I felt about it. We are doing the Versant program. Are you doing any type of residency program?

i am starting my OR training as a new grad..im kinda nervous because i never thought about working in this area...but im excited !! and am anticipating the day i actually 'start' my training/new grad internship

is there anyone on here who ALREADY started working in the OR as a new grad? if so, can you please share advice/experiences!

congratulations to you all. The OR can be a really exciting place to work. I can't imagine working anywhere else.

Hi! I start my residency Monday and wanted to know how yours was going. Are you doing any specific program? We will be doing a Versant/AORN program that is designed to retain new nurses. It seems very interesting and I am excited. I would love to hear how you are doing.

Thanks~

i am just in orientation right now...learning the hospital system w the rest of the new hires

they have provided me w 2 books! yes, books...to start my internship..i feel like im in school again lol & i have to purchase 2 MORE..so in total, i will have 4 books for my OR residency

they told me i will have several OR 'classes'...

they haven't updated me yet w all the details...but it seems that they are thoroughly preparing me w all this training, bookwork, etc