OR nurse with a family.

Specialties Operating Room

Published

Hello!

I am a pre nursing student hoping to be accepted into an RN program this fall. My goal is to be an OR nurse. I am 35 with a husband and two sons, 5 and 2. I was just wondering how call works and if there are nurses working in the OR that have families? I would imagine it would be hard to not have a set schedule with a family. Yet this is my dream so I guess I'm just wanting to hear from other OR nurses with families that make it work. Thanks so much for any information you all can provide :)

I understand your concerns. But it is funny, you are so putting the cart before the horse. Yet I know I had these thoughts in pre-nursing. What are hours like in hospital nursing, how will I still have a family or life? What kind of hours will I work.

So in the one in one billion chance you get a job right out of nursing school in the OR. (Or even the one in a million chance you even still want to be an OR nurse after nursing school.) OR nurses do have set schedules. It varies on the size of the hospital. Smaller hospitals only schedule OR nurses 7 am to 3 pm. Larger hospitals may schedule round the clock OR nurses, 7 - 3, 3 - 11, and a small staff scheduled 11 pm to 7 am in larger trauma centers. Regardless your schedule is set four weeks at a time so you know when you are working.

On call really varies. Smaller hospitals have less staff to cover call and you may be on call 2 - 3 times a week plus weekends. Larger hospitals have more staff and you may have call once a week or less. As I said larger hospitals have regular staff scheduled 3 - 11 but they may be for regular scheduled cases and an on call nurse would be scheduled for emergencies.

This is correct and very much my personality. I like to plan. So while there is a chance I won't get an OR job right out of school or even want one, these are still questions I have at this present moment lol thanks so much for answering it :) doesn't sound nearly as bad as I had imagined.

It really depends where you work. I work in a city that only has two hospitals. One is a trauma center and the other is not. The trauma center has more shifts while the other one has most nurses on day shift and one nurse on the 2-10 pm shift. Our schedules used to be a real sore spot with the staff. We had a call nurse and two "late" nurses. The late nurses basically had to stay until no longer needed, which could be till 4 pm or 10 pm. Also, the call was assigned and late shifts you had to sign up for, first come first serve. So if you were the last person to get to the sign up schedule, you were SOL. Management is revamping our schedule and trying to make it better. It was tough when we were very short staffed and had a lot of late shifts and call shifts. I have a family and my husband travels a bit for work so it was challenging. I stayed on full time for 2 1/2 yrs and then went PRN. It's made my life much more manageable. If you really want to be an OR nurse, spend some time shadowing an OR nurse. I did not know I wanted to be an OR nurse until I went into nursing school and got to observe a day in the OR and I LOVED it! Still do :) I also took a peri-op course during a summer break in nursing school and I got to spend 160 volunteer hrs in the OR. I tried my hardest to be helpful and interested w/o being a pain in the butt. The manager and noticed my drive and interest and offered to interview me for a position as a GN. Got the job and I don't regret it. Best wishes. You can do it....even with a family!

It really depends where you work. I work in a city that only has two hospitals. One is a trauma center and the other is not. The trauma center has more shifts while the other one has most nurses on day shift and one nurse on the 2-10 pm shift. Our schedules used to be a real sore spot with the staff. We had a call nurse and two "late" nurses. The late nurses basically had to stay until no longer needed which could be till 4 pm or 10 pm. Also, the call was assigned and late shifts you had to sign up for, first come first serve. So if you were the last person to get to the sign up schedule, you were SOL. Management is revamping our schedule and trying to make it better. It was tough when we were very short staffed and had a lot of late shifts and call shifts. I have a family and my husband travels a bit for work so it was challenging. I stayed on full time for 2 1/2 yrs and then went PRN. It's made my life much more manageable. If you really want to be an OR nurse, spend some time shadowing an OR nurse. I did not know I wanted to be an OR nurse until I went into nursing school and got to observe a day in the OR and I LOVED it! Still do :) I also took a peri-op course during a summer break in nursing school and I got to spend 160 volunteer hrs in the OR. I tried my hardest to be helpful and interested w/o being a pain in the butt. The manager and noticed my drive and interest and offered to interview me for a position as a GN. Got the job and I don't regret it. Best wishes. You can do it....even with a family![/quote']

I REALLY appreciate your input and positivity :) I plan to shadow for sure! I love that you took a peri-op course that sounds so perfect. I hope I can locate similar here in Atlanta when the time arrives.

I worked many years in OR and never took call. We had non-call positions and I worked 9 to 5 and every sixth weekend.

I worked many years in OR and never took call. We had non-call positions and I worked 9 to 5 and every sixth weekend.

Wow. Sounds like a dream schedule to me :)

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I am always totally mystified when people seem to think that people in certain professions are unable to have families.Do you really think that ALL OR nurses are childless?

I am always totally mystified when people seem to think that people in certain professions are unable to have families.Do you really think that ALL OR nurses are childless?

Nope. Was a question to those with children. No need to be snarky. Your comment isn't needed.

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.
Nope. Was a question to those with children. No need to be snarky. Your comment isn't needed.

[...and if there are nurses working in the OR that have families]

Sorry.This made it sound like you thought no OR nurses had families.

Specializes in ER, Addictions, Geriatrics.
Nope. Was a question to those with children. No need to be snarky. Your comment isn't needed.

Nor was a snarky comment in response.

Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.
Nope. Was a question to those with children. No need to be snarky. Your comment isn't needed.

When you post on a forum you have to take the answers you get. You don't get to cherry pick only the answers you want. You original post indicates that you assumed people in the OR didn't have families. I was also taken aback by that. I can tell you that people with kids work in every part if the hospital, every type of shift, and in every specialty.

I get that you're excited about starting your nursing journey, but you cart is so far ahead of the horse you can't even see the horse anymore. Slow down, get into and through nursing school, and then reassess your OR dreams.

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