Struggling/new OR RN.

Specialties Operating Room

Published

Hi all-- thank you for reading this, if you are.

I am new to the OR, started the day after Memorial Day for a 6 month orientation. I came to the OR after 6 years of step-down/telemetry unit. Sometimes I miss working the floor... and then I think I must be crazy because I was really ready to leave it when I left it!

There are 6 full time OR nurses where I work. 2 of them are relatively new RN's with about 2 years experiences each. Another one is a seasoned pro with more than 20 years OR experience, but she only works weekends and has only been working at our facility for a little while longer than the 2 brand new nurses.

There is another nurse who has been at the hospital as long as I have been there. And then there is a PRN nurse, and a full time traveler.

And then there is me.

I don't know what to say about myself except that I think I was good as a floor nurse, or at least I became the best I was going to be. In 6 years, no one ever died on my watch, (some tried, but failed!) and I often got presents and cards from patients and their families. I loved my patients, and I almost always had a good rapport with them. I think for a floor nurse, those are the things you hope to acheive. But I always felt... well, My morale was often low, despite the gifts and accolades from patients.

So, I switched to the OR after trying it out for a few days, and really liking it.

The OR presented me with a challenge and an entirely new culture, and a whole new way of nursing that was refreshing. Plus, Morale seems to be good for OR nurses!

The few days I spent just checking it out made everyone think I'd be a good fit for this. It helped that I worked as TA for Anatomy classes in college.

And now, here I am, 7 weeks into training (well 6 actually because I was off for the week of the 4th for a family reunion) and there are days when I feel like a total idiot. And what is worse, is I think everyone else thinks I am one too!

Yesterday my charge nurse and the surgical services supervisor talked to me about how I am doing: they had heard some concerns from a couple of the nurses who have been precepting me. One was my sterile technique.

Ok, this is something I know I have to work on. I have some habits left over from 6 years of doing things a certain way... on the floor, if the corner of a foley box touches the patients leg, it's no big deal because the part that is going into the patients bladder, and my hand, are still sterile. After all, the floor "is not the OR." So yeah, things were more loose in that department. But now, starting a foley is hard. I could do them so easily before, and now, I have had to throw away so many boxes because... I'm an idiot who doesn't listen, apparently.

Anyway!

I swear that I am NOT an idiot, and I swear that I know I don't need a TPS for a hysterectomy, and I know how to work a jackson table and what the benefits of a Jackson table are (mostly C-arm ability, and also being able to flip a patient prone). I GET it. I do. after 7 weeks, I think I get more than I don't get.

In know how to open and give to the field while maintaining sterility. I know how to chart everything because it's the same charting system on the floor. I know how to order, and do a time out. I know when to do a time out, and I have a loud voice. I know that cautery always needs to be grounded and this includes the Malis, and I know what the malis is compared to a megadyne. I know how to hook up the foot pedal and what we use that for. I know about the H frame, the Wilson Frame, the Gel rolls, mastisol and cloth tape, about bucks traction and the gardner wells.... I know about scopes and insufflation and lights... someone quiz me! If I had to take a 7-weeks competency test, I know I would Ace it!

But then I get called in to talk to the charge nurse again today who basically tells me that the traveler who I got the benefit of being precepted by complained about me because I didn't take my jacket off when prepping a patient. She said I just "Don't listen". OK, well, yesterday when prepping a woman for hysterectomy, I DID take it off because I had to stand in between her lithotomy legs position and it's a small area and the jackets are kinda bulky.

But today, I guess I didn't even think about it. I prepped only one case, It was an anterior cervical spine fusion. I was wearing lead over my scrubs already. I also was wearing a size smaller jacket than normally. there wasnt anything dangling and the prep area was pretty small, just used about half a Chloroprep stick. She was cheerfully beside me while I prepped... what I was wearing wasn't on either of our minds, I know it wasn't.

Anyway. the travel nurse is a good nurse. She is really organized and I respect her work. I requested that she train me, if possible. I am dismayed that she didn't come to me with this feedback.

I was getting sometimes every nurse as a preceptor all in one day. It was crazy making because they all said different things, no one knew what I new, and they all treated me like I was a complete moron with instructions on how to take a patient to the bathroom, when I needed to don gloves, and things like that. Or how to transfer a patient from gurney to bed...stuff every CNA knows.

Sorry-- I am just frustrated with no one to turn to. I have invested a lot of hope and energy into this new venture. And instead of feeling welcomed, I feel like I am being chased out.

I don't want the new-ish nurses to train me-- one of them is very nervous when I am in the room with him, and it makes me nervous that he is nervous. The other one is very nice, but doesn't totally have his game together. The gal who has been at the hospital there as long as me is often busy with cases that aren't good for a newby to participate in (robotic or otherwise), and she kinda acts like she resents the extra work having to teach me. There isn't anyone warm and willing, who is competent. The traveler is actually the best nurse we have, and so I asked if I could just stick with her.

She said today that she didn't want to be training me becasue she doesn't know the hospital's particularities and policies, etc. This is a good point. But then she went and told the charge nurse that I don't listen!

I don't get it. I asked her after lunch if I had done something wrong becasue she was mad at me for not being there to position the patient. I had gone to lunch after getting the room ready and interviewing the patient (she was at lunch while I finished up the previous case and took it to the PACU). My lunch was not long and I returned to the room I had prepped after eating, as I was instructed to do so by the charge.

She said "You just missed the most important part. It's the positioning that you need to do." I didn't know what to tell her. I guess I wasn't supposed to take a lunch then. Obviously.

And she had no idea that I had actually done that positioning before... a few times. Granted, I can always learn more, but... how can I communicate to her that #1 the charge told me what to do, so that is what I did. and #2, maybe it isn't a super huge deal that I missed the positioning since I had, technically, helped with it 2 times before? I would love to have been there for it. But... I also get told to LISTEN and I show that I can listen by doing what I am told to do, which at that time was "go to lunch". Lucky me, I can't win.

Look, I care about my training here. In just 19 more weeks, if I pass (in the eyes of my coworkers/preceptors), I will be on my own. Yet, I have NO measuring stick to tell me how well I am doing. No checklist, and no one single preceptor who actually gives a dang and knows I'm not a flibbetygiblet! Or who knows that I have already been taught XYZ, but might still have questions.

I feel like I"m drowning and no one is throwing me a rope. I don't give up easily, and I ASKED for this experience because I wanted a challenge. Buy my challenge thus far hasn't been with medical know how or actually running a room. It has been with convincing my preceptors that I'm not a moron!

O, and then, I made a joke. Lots of joking going on in the OR at my hospital. It wasn't a good joke, and it wasn't one, in retrospect that I should have made. But I am trying to fit in and learn this culture.... Lots of crass talk, lots of sad fun-poking about crazy people or fat people. Hey! At least my joke wasn't one of those. They are just as valid human beings in my mind as diplomats are.

So, my question is-- how do I deal with this? I feel like I've talked to my charge nurse about it, and she basically has no advice. Just that they will continue to watch me and make sure I'm getting it.

But how can I prove myself when no one trusts me to do a thing without barking out orders at me?

They say "If you have any questions, just ask!" So I do and they look at me like I'm dumb. Or they say "After you get the patient on the table, stay there by their side to help intubate" but then they snap at me and accuse me of not listening because I didn't get the SCD's, which are on the boom, hooked up before the patient was under.... and then I get the lecture about how SCD's need to be on BEFORE sedation occurs...I know this, but they just said not to leave the patient's side to help with intubation! And they were there with me setting up the room. They knew where the SCD machine was, and it wasn't a problem. Some of my preceptors hook them up afterwards.

I feel like I can't win. I feel like a brand new nurse all over again... remember that? Coming home, crying at least once a week? Wondering what we had gotten ourselves into? Wondering if we should just quit?

Anyway, thanks for listening. I ranted a lot. I really do'nt have anyone I can talk to about this, and I don't remember what I did as a new nurse to survive it. It seems to me like I just kept showing up and after a while, the tension went away.

Hope you all are having a grand day!

Woops

0 Votes
Specializes in Operating Room.

Hello!

I am a brand new graduate and am starting in the OR. Talk about overwhelming! I have only been here 6 weeks but I do feel like I am getting there. I know it is probably weird getting advice from a brand new nurse, but I just wanted to tell you first of all, the OR is an animal and you will tame it eventually. I have been very lucky to have a very knowledgable preceptor that is very nice and treats me very well, and I have her all the time other than when she is in the charge role. Then whenever I get put with anyone else they are all incredible too. I work in a very large OR and we have a large staff, but everyone is very encouraging and helpful, I think that makes a huge difference. Its really unfortunet that you are in the situation you are in because having a good preceptor and orientation is what is going to make the difference for how well you do in the OR.

There are 2 things I would suggest in hopefully turning your situation around a little. First, if your preceptors are going to the charge nurse without talking to you about things, I would ask after each case or in the middle if you have time "how am I doing, is there anything you can point out to me to correct next time for this specific case?" Try and beat them to the punch and create that dialog, so if they say you did something wrong to your charge you can say that you ask each time for feedback and guidance. The other thing I would suggest is to remember that you are an experienced RN. You can delegate even though you are in training. You are licensed to do so. If you are up at the head of the bed and are helping with intubation, ask politly for your preceptor to plug in your SCDs if you know they need plugged in at that time. I am a brand new nurse and I still delegate certain tasks if I know things need to be moving along quickly and I cant do everything at once. The OR especially is a very team oriented atmosphere, delegating and working together is a sign of a competent team.

The only other thing I can say is if they keep saying you "dont listen" try to verbalize your understanding of things. Ask for clarification if you need it, or simply repeat back to them what they want you to do, just so they know that you know. Hopefully if you open a line of communication more things will work out on there own.

Good Luck!

0 Votes
Specializes in APRN, ACNP-BC, CNOR, RNFA.
Hi all-- thank you for reading this, if you are.

I am new to the OR, started the day after Memorial Day for a 6 month orientation. I came to the OR after 6 years of step-down/telemetry unit. Sometimes I miss working the floor... and then I think I must be crazy because I was really ready to leave it when I left it!

There are 6 full time OR nurses where I work. 2 of them are relatively new RN's with about 2 years experiences each. Another one is a seasoned pro with more than 20 years OR experience, but she only works weekends and has only been working at our facility for a little while longer than the 2 brand new nurses.

There is another nurse who has been at the hospital as long as I have been there. And then there is a PRN nurse, and a full time traveler.

And then there is me.

I don't know what to say about myself except that I think I was good as a floor nurse, or at least I became the best I was going to be. In 6 years, no one ever died on my watch, (some tried, but failed!) and I often got presents and cards from patients and their families. I loved my patients, and I almost always had a good rapport with them. I think for a floor nurse, those are the things you hope to acheive. But I always felt... well, My morale was often low, despite the gifts and accolades from patients.

So, I switched to the OR after trying it out for a few days, and really liking it.

The OR presented me with a challenge and an entirely new culture, and a whole new way of nursing that was refreshing. Plus, Morale seems to be good for OR nurses!

The few days I spent just checking it out made everyone think I'd be a good fit for this. It helped that I worked as TA for Anatomy classes in college.

And now, here I am, 7 weeks into training (well 6 actually because I was off for the week of the 4th for a family reunion) and there are days when I feel like a total idiot. And what is worse, is I think everyone else thinks I am one too!

Yesterday my charge nurse and the surgical services supervisor talked to me about how I am doing: they had heard some concerns from a couple of the nurses who have been precepting me. One was my sterile technique.

Ok, this is something I know I have to work on. I have some habits left over from 6 years of doing things a certain way... on the floor, if the corner of a foley box touches the patients leg, it's no big deal because the part that is going into the patients bladder, and my hand, are still sterile. After all, the floor "is not the OR." So yeah, things were more loose in that department. But now, starting a foley is hard. I could do them so easily before, and now, I have had to throw away so many boxes because... I'm an idiot who doesn't listen, apparently.

Anyway!

I swear that I am NOT an idiot, and I swear that I know I don't need a TPS for a hysterectomy, and I know how to work a jackson table and what the benefits of a Jackson table are (mostly C-arm ability, and also being able to flip a patient prone). I GET it. I do. after 7 weeks, I think I get more than I don't get.

In know how to open and give to the field while maintaining sterility. I know how to chart everything because it's the same charting system on the floor. I know how to order, and do a time out. I know when to do a time out, and I have a loud voice. I know that cautery always needs to be grounded and this includes the Malis, and I know what the malis is compared to a megadyne. I know how to hook up the foot pedal and what we use that for. I know about the H frame, the Wilson Frame, the Gel rolls, mastisol and cloth tape, about bucks traction and the gardner wells.... I know about scopes and insufflation and lights... someone quiz me! If I had to take a 7-weeks competency test, I know I would Ace it!

But then I get called in to talk to the charge nurse again today who basically tells me that the traveler who I got the benefit of being precepted by complained about me because I didn't take my jacket off when prepping a patient. She said I just "Don't listen". OK, well, yesterday when prepping a woman for hysterectomy, I DID take it off because I had to stand in between her lithotomy legs position and it's a small area and the jackets are kinda bulky.

But today, I guess I didn't even think about it. I prepped only one case, It was an anterior cervical spine fusion. I was wearing lead over my scrubs already. I also was wearing a size smaller jacket than normally. there wasnt anything dangling and the prep area was pretty small, just used about half a Chloroprep stick. She was cheerfully beside me while I prepped... what I was wearing wasn't on either of our minds, I know it wasn't.

Anyway. the travel nurse is a good nurse. She is really organized and I respect her work. I requested that she train me, if possible. I am dismayed that she didn't come to me with this feedback.

I was getting sometimes every nurse as a preceptor all in one day. It was crazy making because they all said different things, no one knew what I new, and they all treated me like I was a complete moron with instructions on how to take a patient to the bathroom, when I needed to don gloves, and things like that. Or how to transfer a patient from gurney to bed...stuff every CNA knows.

Sorry-- I am just frustrated with no one to turn to. I have invested a lot of hope and energy into this new venture. And instead of feeling welcomed, I feel like I am being chased out.

I don't want the new-ish nurses to train me-- one of them is very nervous when I am in the room with him, and it makes me nervous that he is nervous. The other one is very nice, but doesn't totally have his game together. The gal who has been at the hospital there as long as me is often busy with cases that aren't good for a newby to participate in (robotic or otherwise), and she kinda acts like she resents the extra work having to teach me. There isn't anyone warm and willing, who is competent. The traveler is actually the best nurse we have, and so I asked if I could just stick with her.

She said today that she didn't want to be training me becasue she doesn't know the hospital's particularities and policies, etc. This is a good point. But then she went and told the charge nurse that I don't listen!

I don't get it. I asked her after lunch if I had done something wrong becasue she was mad at me for not being there to position the patient. I had gone to lunch after getting the room ready and interviewing the patient (she was at lunch while I finished up the previous case and took it to the PACU). My lunch was not long and I returned to the room I had prepped after eating, as I was instructed to do so by the charge.

She said "You just missed the most important part. It's the positioning that you need to do." I didn't know what to tell her. I guess I wasn't supposed to take a lunch then. Obviously.

And she had no idea that I had actually done that positioning before... a few times. Granted, I can always learn more, but... how can I communicate to her that #1 the charge told me what to do, so that is what I did. and #2, maybe it isn't a super huge deal that I missed the positioning since I had, technically, helped with it 2 times before? I would love to have been there for it. But... I also get told to LISTEN and I show that I can listen by doing what I am told to do, which at that time was "go to lunch". Lucky me, I can't win.

Look, I care about my training here. In just 19 more weeks, if I pass (in the eyes of my coworkers/preceptors), I will be on my own. Yet, I have NO measuring stick to tell me how well I am doing. No checklist, and no one single preceptor who actually gives a dang and knows I'm not a flibbetygiblet! Or who knows that I have already been taught XYZ, but might still have questions.

I feel like I"m drowning and no one is throwing me a rope. I don't give up easily, and I ASKED for this experience because I wanted a challenge. Buy my challenge thus far hasn't been with medical know how or actually running a room. It has been with convincing my preceptors that I'm not a moron!

O, and then, I made a joke. Lots of joking going on in the OR at my hospital. It wasn't a good joke, and it wasn't one, in retrospect that I should have made. But I am trying to fit in and learn this culture.... Lots of crass talk, lots of sad fun-poking about crazy people or fat people. Hey! At least my joke wasn't one of those. They are just as valid human beings in my mind as diplomats are.

So, my question is-- how do I deal with this? I feel like I've talked to my charge nurse about it, and she basically has no advice. Just that they will continue to watch me and make sure I'm getting it.

But how can I prove myself when no one trusts me to do a thing without barking out orders at me?

They say "If you have any questions, just ask!" So I do and they look at me like I'm dumb. Or they say "After you get the patient on the table, stay there by their side to help intubate" but then they snap at me and accuse me of not listening because I didn't get the SCD's, which are on the boom, hooked up before the patient was under.... and then I get the lecture about how SCD's need to be on BEFORE sedation occurs...I know this, but they just said not to leave the patient's side to help with intubation! And they were there with me setting up the room. They knew where the SCD machine was, and it wasn't a problem. Some of my preceptors hook them up afterwards.

I feel like I can't win. I feel like a brand new nurse all over again... remember that? Coming home, crying at least once a week? Wondering what we had gotten ourselves into? Wondering if we should just quit?

Anyway, thanks for listening. I ranted a lot. I really do'nt have anyone I can talk to about this, and I don't remember what I did as a new nurse to survive it. It seems to me like I just kept showing up and after a while, the tension went away.

Hope you all are having a grand day!

Woops

The OR is tough, no doubt. I have a few concerns about your training. Are you in an internship or preceptorship? Did all of your preceptors take a preceptorship course? Most facilities would not allow a new OR nurse (2 years) to precept anyone, they barely know what they're doing. Also, most wouldn't allow a traveller to precept either. Does your facility use Periop 101? Do you have an OR educator? The OR educator will be your advocate as a new OR nurse.

First off, if there is a concern for patient safety, NO ONE waits until after, to tell your supervisor what you did or did not do (i.e. wear a jacket while prepping). Issues for safety should be addressed before a potential can happen (risk for infection). That should be the point that you make to your supervisor next time. Most importantly, it all just sounds like a lot of back biting, which is common in the OR. Many feel the need to stand on the backs of others, to make themselves seem taller. You'll get it, and if you love it, hang in there. Take all criticism constructively, and just get through it. When they approach you to precept in 2 years, remember how you felt during your orientation, and NEVER treat your orientee the same. Good Luck!

0 Votes

Hey Woopsydaisy,

I started a peri-op program 1 month ago and I can definitely relate. Hang in there, I think things will get better.

One thing that our nurse educator told us that helped me is that every nurse has their own "system". On nurse will say no, that's not how you do it and the next one will tell you their way is the right way. She said that my job in the first few months was to observe the way each of the nurses do it, just accept their feedback and make mental notes. (ie- That way seems safer for the patient, that way works better, etc.) One of my jobs later on will be to develop my own system, but in the meantime I have to be flexible and not take their criticism personally.

HTH, Good luck

0 Votes
Specializes in Trauma, Emergency.

Ooooh boy, I feel ya! I'm about 8 weeks in, fresh outta school. I'm at an ASC, and there isn't really much of a preceptorship or orientation program in place, so I'm spending a couple weeks in each speciality with (mostly pretty experienced) nurses. It is so tough to get used to one person's way of doing things and then have to readjust two weeks later! Also, I got fussed at by one for NOT wearing a jacket when prepping- I was told my skin cells or arm hair might contaminate the field during prep!

I'm Very fortunate- the majority of my nurses are very warm and happy to answer my silly questions, and they generally intervene with anything im doing that might immediately impact pt safety. And about intubation with SCDs- that's happened to me several times! "stand with pt and help intibate" two minutes later "why are the SCDs not hooked up?!". Oh my gosh makes me want to bang my head on a wall!

Hang in there, sounds like you have a positive attitude in spite of your frustration, just try to keep it up!! Good luck :-) We will circulate the heck outta those rooms one day!!

0 Votes

Whoopsadaisy, and all who commented Hang in there!!! We need you!! I don't know what it is, but to reference an old and negative nursing adage, OR nurses really seem to eat their young! I've been in my OR for just over two years now. I came fresh out of nursing school right into the OR and those first few weeks I really wondered what I had done to myself. Right off the bat I had to battle with the fact that not only was I new to the OR but new to being a nurse. So everything was new! But I'm still here! It all balances out I swear!

If I only had time to reference every which way I struggled. But I had an infliction I like to call Foley Follies. Right and Left, Left and Right I couldn't get a Foley in to safe my life, especially for one ever so particular orthopedic surgeon. He literally would watch me put the Foley in, or attempt I should say. God bless his heart, he does not have a reputation for his patience, but he would wait and let me try and as I struggled he would wordlessly step away and put on a pair of gloves and take over. Time after time, he never yelled but he always gave me the opportunity. And eventually less and less often he had to put gloves on, and pretty soon my Foley Follies were something of the past. And I have even been the person to save another persons Foley Follies!

That scenario kind of set my tone for how I handle the OR. Take it in stride because everyone will have idiosyncrasies and ways of doing things from the anesthesiologists to the CRNA's from the RN's to the surgeons, and as the nurse in the room we need to make it come together. Attempt the opportunities given to you and keep trying, the mistakes are worth it in the end if just to learn from them. Ask for help when you need it and try to hold on to that positive attitude! And try to hold on to what it was like being new, because there will be new nurses who start after you, who will struggle in their own ways and need people to remember what it was like!

Day by day little by little it will come together! HANG IN THERE!!

0 Votes
Specializes in OR.

I'm a new OR nurse, just out of school too! I have been in the periop 101 program for one month now. For the first month we did nothing but bookwork and meetings to go over the bookwork. Everything from sterile technique to putting items on the field to Bovie's to pathology and blood transfusions to specimen collection (and our instructor also said we need to wear our jackets while in the room because skin cells from your arms could shed onto the patient, which can increase risk of surgical infection) basically a general 'once over' on everything we will need to know. I will spend a day in the holding area tomorrow and then on Wednesday be in a room circulating a case with a preceptor. It is up to me how much or how little I do the first few times...which will also determine how quickly I can be in a room by myself...but, there is no pressure to be a super circulator or to actually 'know' what I am doing.

Advice I was given by those new nurses who went before me...no matter what, even if they are joking around having a good time during a case, do not 'join in' and open your mouth unless directly talked to or unless you have questions about the case and your role...because even though those in the room might seem like they are letting you 'join in', they could very well turn around and say things like 'she isn't taking it seriously' or 'she isn't listening.' I am a total 'people person' so it will be hard for me not to join in the conversation...but I will be taking the old 'newbies' advice and not talking unless I am talked directly to...at least until the different teams get to know me and get to trust my work. Sounds like your periop program is a bit skinny on details...hang in there and take all the constructive criticism (and not so constructive criticism) and use it to your advantage. That is what I will 'try' to do (as hard as it might be at times). Good luck sister! :)

0 Votes

Hi Everyone,

Well, they let me go today.

I just read all of your words of encouragement here and I feel pretty awful. I haven't cried, but I might later on. They want me to work in PACU and Scopes and the Pain clinic. At least its a job.

I just feel badly for wanting more. PACU, scopes, pain clinic are pretty boring and don't really utilize much skill, I feel. I have been cross trained to those areas since January, while I was waiting for the OR position to open.

My boss says that a "couple of doctors" complained about me. They said they really like me, but that they just didn't think I fit in.

Of course, they all know me from the floor. So-- what Michele742 just said about me keeping quiet and not joining in.... its hard for me to do. I already have a rapport with most of them.

I don't know what to do.

Part of me thinks I should just go back to the floor, admit defeat and go back to doing what I was good at.

Part of me wants to just leave town entirely... but that is just the depression of being told "it isn't working" talking there, most likely.

I am active in my union and am going to a conference next week on "innovation" in healthcare.

I don't feel very innovative, thinking a more innovative nurse would have gotten-it with 3 months of shoddy training. I don't know why I failed, or what I could hvae done differently.

I am on line now looking to see if any nearby towns are hiring for OR, and wanting to call them to ask them about training.

I had no Peri-Op 101. I had no 1 DAY, even, of going over sterile technique. I never had a checklist, or a willing or capable preceptor who's job it was to train me.

My one fault I can see is that I let whoever precepted me lead the cases because I always got the feeling from them that they would rather just do it themselves than train me to do it. I suppose I should have been more assertive and said "Let me do this".

The odd thing is just yesterday, I DID run the show, for all 3 cases I had yesterday. I was with the travel nurse and she pretty much sat back, and helped when I needed her there. I came out of yesterday thinking "That is what I need now. 3 more months of that, and no doubt I'll be ready."

It was ortho cases, all day long. Without a break except when someone relieved us for lunch. But I wasn't complaining. I was glad because I was getting it-- not just the ciruclating part, but the charting WITH the circulating part.

Anyway, my boss says she would still like to get me back there when she can. She says it would be great if I could relieve for lunches and take "you know, maybe of the easier cases, some lap choleys occassionally". Why did they have me in so much Ortho then?

As a PACU/SCOPES/PAIN float already... floating to the OR... why not?

Its just so weird.

Maybe I am weird, and so she is coming up with this weird position for me. I know she feels that I would get it, by the end of my training, which was supposed to be done in December... that it was coming. Slowly, but surely. I am sure she knows this.

I suppose I could have fought to continue the training, but to be honest with you all, being trained is nerve wracking. I like it, but I dislike how they always TSk Tsk me like a child in front of the doctors.

Its almost like there was a competition, now that I think of it. Almost, maybe?

Heck, I don't know.

BUt I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading my post and for all of your encouragement. I read them the other day at work and it really meant a lot to know someone cared.

Woops

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Specializes in OR.

Oh no! I'm so sorry Whoops :( Well, let me tell you...just from the sound of it...sounds like their 'periop' program is nonexistent. Having said that, I immediately felt like it was their failure in not training you that lead to this...NOT YOURS!! Do not beat yourself up over it. Bottom line, it sounds as if they did not have the tools in place to train you properly in the perioperative arena...and this is not saying anything negative about the people in this area of nursing, some places just do not have the training materials/time, etc, available to them to train an RN for the OR. You hold your head up and just realize that this wasn't something that you did...they just didn't have the tools avail for you. It's a shame, especially since I could totally feel your dedication and excitement in your posts for wanting to learn this arena.

As for myself...I have 'backups' in the back of my mind in case this doesn't pan out for me. So far, I love it and today was my first day back in the OR rooms. I prepped, I charted, I interviewed patients with my preceptor there...every step of the way they reminded me "you won't 'get it' off the bat...it will take months and months of training...even then, you won't feel at home in this area for at least one year." So see...they 'GET IT!' Sounds like your place of business is not set up for that type/length of training. So, I would say if you can find a hospital with an actual 'periop 101' program, then don't give up on your dream just because you happened to be in an organization not prepared to give you the tools it takes to succeed. again, HANG IN THERE mi amiga...and don't let this experience crush your spirit. Many many hugs to you!!

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Woopsadaisy,

Hugs to you. Tough times don't last but tough people do! Head up...you will make it;)

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There is a TON to learn in the OR, and don't expect to know it all after 6 weeks of training! You definitely have a long way to go, but take your time, lots of notes, and you will be fine.. I would HIGHLY recommend joining AORN and become familiar with all the basic recommendations, especially in regards to the nurse who calls you out for wearing your jacket while prepping. As long as you are wearing it properly, AORN suggests that you ALWAYS wear a jacket in the OR, even during a prep. Keep your head up and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! Below is the link to the AORN surgical attire recommendations:

http://isgweb.aorn.org/ISGWeb/downloads/CEA12503-0001.pdf

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