New OR nurse here

Specialties Operating Room

Published

Hi all,

I am new to this site. I graduated nursing school in May 2010 and just got my very first job as a nurse in a children's hospital OR! I have wanted to work in the OR since beginning school and am very happy to be working where I am. I love it so far and cant wait to see what the future holds in the OR for me! I just wanted to say hello!:)

Specializes in Operating Room.
Out of curiosity, for those of you who have landed a New Grad OR job, what was your background/experience? Did you do your L & M/Summer internship in an OR?

I've gotta say...I'm a little jealous!

Congrats!

At my school we got to choose an area to concentrate in for our last semester and work with a preceptor. I chose the OR and kept going after my required hours were over. Even got to scrub in on a few cases! The staff totally took me under their wing and taught me as much as possible in that amount of time :D. Basically, I am really lucky. I can't wait to start, if I were you, I'd take the OR spot!

absolutely do that if its offered!! wow, what a great opportunity to meet everyone! let us know what the manager of an OR does, because i still don't really know. lots of meetings i suspect.

at our facility, the L&D nurses do all the ceseareans, they are not part of our service in the OR. the nurses learn how to circulate those cases and there is very little if any crossover with us. if you want to work with moms and babies, go into L&D instead. then you get to do a little bit of both! I have never gotten to see a ceserean. sometimes folks come into our OR though for emergency reasons and the trauma causes the baby to makes an early appearance anyway.

BDS,

I did my senior practicum/LM in the OR and I think it helped me get the job (OR at my local teaching hospital - just found out today!). My interviewers seemed pleased that I had an idea of what the OR was about and knew from "experience" that it was for me. I say go for the OR nurse manager!

Out of curiosity, for those of you who have landed a New Grad OR job, what was your background/experience? Did you do your L & M/Summer internship in an OR?

I've gotta say...I'm a little jealous!

Congrats!

I was in an ABSN program so clinical time was crunched. I had about a handful of observation days in the OR, Endo, Same Day, and PACU. No internship, but I've volunteered on a few surgical missions (missed out on the last two trips). An aunt and family friends are OR nurses, so I suppose they've been grooming me for years :lol:

stereotypical-

find out what kinds of procedures your facility does and focus on learning the instruments for those cases, also review meds, sterilization, positioning, fire safety, codes and circulating duties. Knowing what the case is aboutand why they are having it is interesting but not necessarily the most important thing. Your number one duty is to keep the patient safe.

also, join the AORN.

congrats and keep us posted! :nurse:

During the tour they mentioned the types of cases they do so those have been the ones I've been reading up on. The book I have is the Pocket Guide to the Operating Room. I was at a bookstore with a friend when a blue book caught my eye. I had no idea it was this! It must have been a sign :coollook:

stereo-

the standard OR bible if you will is Alexanders Care of the Surgical Patient. Get the 13th edition, not the most current. they left out some good things in the latest version plus the older copies are generally less expensive. I got mine for $16 on Amazon but that was a super deal. they generally run about $100-110. also get the AORN standards book, also about $100 but cheaper if you are a member. the best instrumentation book i have is by Shirley Tighe and is called Instrumentation in the Operating Room, although I learn them best by holding and working with them, not from pictures in the book, but it helps me with names. Lots of instruments have about 5 different names people call them by, add to that the European names and it makes things challenging!! :) Theres also another good book called Essentials of Perioperative Nursing that does a good job of going into sterilization techniques and positioning. If you can wow them with your knowledge of the latest evidence based practice on positioning techniques, prep procedures, and safety issues, that is where you will really shine. Many of the more experienced nurses don't know the latest techniques, and a few may fight you, but if you have a good rationale for why you are doing it or can produce the data to support it, you will become a very valuable member of the team. The new nurses are the ones who know the latest innovations and technology. Use that to your advantage!! :nurse:

stereo-

the standard OR bible if you will is Alexanders Care of the Surgical Patient. Get the 13th edition, not the most current. they left out some good things in the latest version plus the older copies are generally less expensive. I got mine for $16 on Amazon but that was a super deal. they generally run about $100-110. also get the AORN standards book, also about $100 but cheaper if you are a member. the best instrumentation book i have is by Shirley Tighe and is called Instrumentation in the Operating Room, although I learn them best by holding and working with them, not from pictures in the book, but it helps me with names. Lots of instruments have about 5 different names people call them by, add to that the European names and it makes things challenging!! :) Theres also another good book called Essentials of Perioperative Nursing that does a good job of going into sterilization techniques and positioning. If you can wow them with your knowledge of the latest evidence based practice on positioning techniques, prep procedures, and safety issues, that is where you will really shine. Many of the more experienced nurses don't know the latest techniques, and a few may fight you, but if you have a good rationale for why you are doing it or can produce the data to support it, you will become a very valuable member of the team. The new nurses are the ones who know the latest innovations and technology. Use that to your advantage!! :nurse:

Thanks! I'll check those out. :D

Ahhhh... starting in five days!!!

I'm a new grad from June and I've been applying to any job, but I'm still hoping for an OR position. Part of the reason I've been slacking on my job search is that I really don't like floor nursing and only want the OR. I did an elective clinical rotation in the OR and loved it. How did all you other new grads find the OR positions? Thanks for any advice!

I owe a part of it to the nurse recruiter. She got a good read on me the first time we met and directed me towards a position that best fit.

congrats to those all got their first OR positions!

Specializes in MS, LTC, Post Op.

I just went to my OR interview yesterday.

I really presented myself as a go getter who learns fast and likes to work as a team. I have a lot of LTC experience, but I must have really impressed her because she is wanting to hire me. I am really excited and can't wait to start in the OR!

Specializes in OR.
Out of curiosity, for those of you who have landed a New Grad OR job, what was your background/experience? Did you do your L & M/Summer internship in an OR?

I've gotta say...I'm a little jealous!

Congrats!

The only background I had was working in a business office. As far as nursing goes all I had was nursing school. I wasn't allowed to do my preceptorship in the OR. I asked but was told no.

Specializes in OR.
I'm a new grad from June and I've been applying to any job, but I'm still hoping for an OR position. Part of the reason I've been slacking on my job search is that I really don't like floor nursing and only want the OR. I did an elective clinical rotation in the OR and loved it. How did all you other new grads find the OR positions? Thanks for any advice!

You sound like me! I knew when I started school all I wanted was the OR, so that is where I focused on applying. I will tell you my experience, which may be different from others here. I was only allowed to do a one day observational clinical in the OR. I begged for more but was told absolutely not, so I did not have ANY extensive (or non extensive for that matter) experience in the OR.

I decided my best course of action was to let the manager and/or instructor in the OR know that I was very interested and that the OR is all I wanted. I called the two hospitals that I was interested in working at and got the phone numbers and email addresses of the OR manager and instructor (two different people). I sent them both emails at both facilities letting them know I was a new grad and while I realized I did not have any experienc in the OR, it was all I wanted to do. I got the typical response at first, "Sorry we don't have any opening right now, but we will stay in touch if we do". Well I was determined to keep my name in the front of their minds, so I sent them emails monthly (only once a month) letting them know that i was still very interested in a position in their OR. It took 8 months after graduation (fortunately I was in a position I did not have to work immediately after graduating), but I got called in for an interview at BOTH facilities within about a week of each other. I got offered a position in both ORs in the same week. The OR instructor at the facility I took the job at said that it was my persistance that did it for her. She said she felt from my continuous contact that I truly wanted to be part of their team, and that me emailing her monthly DID keep me in her mind. So when they had an opening I was the person they called!

I hope this helps in some way, and good luck with your search!!

+ Add a Comment