wanting to move on! what are pros and cons of OR?

Specialties Operating Room

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Hello, dear colleagues! Greetings and happy holidays if you live in US. I am medsurg RN working the floors and never thought that this was for me. I am trying to find my place where I can say goodbye to 12hr shifts and no more floor-type nursing.

I am hearing good things about the OR and day surgery (same term for surgery center???) and would just LOVE to move on from current medsurg job.

To you, what are some pros and cons of working in OR or surgery centers? I know lots of people think OR nurses have awesome jobs (and you do!), but they, and I, also haven't heard the bad side of the story (which is why I'm asking you now).

I also hear cath lab, GI lab, endoscopy, rad centers are all good jobs and if you have experience with them, please feel free to let me know. Thank you!

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wow... no one? I guess I will ask ppl at my hospital. thanks

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I work in neurosurgery at a level I trauma center, the largest outside of the Chicago suburbs. This was my first job out of school, so I have no bedside experience to compare it with. As with any job, there are advantages and disadvantages. However, from what I hear from coworkers who have worked on various units, OR is generally a better work environment. And, some of these factors I'll mention could be different from facility to facility.

Things I like:

1. In the big scope of things, I'm a recent graduate - about 2 years post. In this job, we are required to take call. We have a team of about 15 nurses. Since our manager allows us to switch call with other team members, I can essentially get as much call pay as I want. Right now, my call pay is only $2/h when I'm just sitting at home, but in the past it's been as high as $5/h. When I'm actually called in, it's time and half. So there's opportunity for me to get more money to pay back those school loans.

2. I work for 7 neurosurgeons. They are all very nice guys, and generally good to work for. So I love that aspect of my job. However, I should forewarn you that it is not like this everywhere; as a matter of fact, I've heard from our medical residents (who have worked with many surgeons throughout the country) that our harshest surgeon is like a toned-down version of most neurosurgeons. I don't have personal experience elsewhere, but I get the feeling my team of surgeons is a rare gem among many jerk doctors, and many people find this to be an unpleasant aspect of surgery life.

3. I only work days. Ever. Period. I am never scheduled at night. I have a solid non-rotating schedule. I started out 0700-1530 while in orientation, then for a short time I did an 1100-1930 shift, and now I'm on tens, 0700-1730, and it is AWESOME. I don't notice the extra two hours because I keep so busy in this job, and getting a day off each week is really nice. We do have one nurse that comes in from 1430-2300, but he prefers that shift and it keeps us covered in the evening. The only time I have to work at night is when I'm called in for an emergency.

4. The days go by very quickly because surgery keeps you extremely busy. There is ALWAYS something to do, someone to talk to. Occasionally you'll have a case that goes on forever, and after you've gotten your stuff done, you can take a breather (like I am as I write this :) )

5. The excitement. I think the more seasoned nurses find the call exhausting, but I love it. I'm still young, don't have kids, not married, why not take as much call as I can?! Coming in, middle of the night, to save someone's life is very fun.

6. Scrubbing. You won't get to do this everywhere. Many facilities only let their OR nurses circulate, and then employ surg techs to scrub cases. Why? My guess is cost. I make more than a surg tech does to do the same job 50 percent of my time. But scrubbing cases is awesome, and you start from just handing over instruments, to eventually earning the trust and respect of the surgeons and getting to assist a little.

The things I don't like:

1. Call is great, but can be frustrating. You have to carefully plan your activities. For instance, when I'm on call, there are a few things I won't do. I won't go to movies, because you don't want to pay for the movie and get a call 15 minutes into it. I don't grocery shop, because nothing sucks more than spending 2 hours walking around the store finding everything you need, standing in line with your cart and getting called in before you can check out. You have to go back later and redo your whole trip. I can't even count the number of times I've been just about ready to sit down and eat a meal I've spent time cooking when I get called before I can take a bite. It's tough! Just takes some careful planning (activities you can easily leave, food that's easy to cook/store).

2. Our harsh surgeon. Nobody likes working for this guy. He is unforgiving, demands precision and efficiency, and he has a lot of.....ummm....concerns (the guy is just anal-retentive) that we have to cater to. And we have to work with him often. Luckily, I've worked hard and proven myself to be someone he can rely on to do things right (most of the time), so he's not as hard on me as he is on other people. But even I still get complained at, and there was a time he made me feel stupid. It's just important to remember that surgeons like this treat everyone the same way. Even my 62 year old coworker who's retiring this year isn't exempt.

3. The orientation period. It is LONG, and extremely humbling. Our orientation can last from 10 weeks to a year, but typically is about 6 months. This is 6 months of, in my case, a preceptor for circulating and a separate one for scrubbing, learning the preferences of 7 different doctors, the basics about each procedure, how to position a patient and prepare a room, how to go get a patient from pre-op and talk to their families, how to use all the different equipment and machines we have, how to help anesthesia, etc etc. It's a long list. And you are expected to know it after doing it once. People will give you different answers to the same questions, people will want things done different ways than what you were taught never to deviate from. You will feel incompetent every day. You will feel like quitting. You will feel underpaid. Before I got this job, three girls had been hired before me who didn't make it, and the girl I got hired with also left in orientation. I could spend forever talking about my hellish orientation experience, but again, I have nothing to compare it to. Bedside orientation may be just as bad, and it's also based on your personal standards you set for yourself. I'm very hard on myself when I screw up, so orientation was difficult for me emotionally. When you take the job in surgery, email me back and I'll tell you what to expect in orientation so I don't waste any more space here.

4. The team, sometimes. When I got hired on, people on this team described it as "a big dysfunctional family". Maybe some of them feel like family, but I don't. We have extreme differences, tensions run high, and everyone gets into spats sometimes. I'm the type to tiptoe as to avoid confrontation, so it's been very rare for me to have a conflict with a coworker, but there have been countless times I've had to hold my tongue. Again, humbling experience. But we do come together very well in times of need to help each other get things done and get through the day. I may not agree with some of their opinions, but they know they can rely on me to come running when they need it (and even when they don't). Conversely, some of my coworkers are what get me through the day without wanting to find a dark corner of the hospital and curl up into the fetal position, lol. I have my favorites, sue me :)

I hope this gives you a tiny sliver of what you were looking for. I'm a new OR nurse, and still avid about it, so feel free to ask me any questions you want.

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@leftmy

I mean, the worst thing, the WORST thing about medsurg is... that most of times, the job makes me feel like I am doing completely useless things. While you or other nurse have to intervene to do cath or emergency surgeries to literally save a life, I am listening to stupid complaints like "can you call the doctor to increase my pain medicine=ton of addicts." I mean.. medsurg is a lot of times dealing with worthless tasks most of times and I can't stand it because I want to work to make a real impact!

I am actually considering OR in acute hospital setting or just a ambulatory/free standing day surgery type of thing. Hopefully I can get out of this medsurg before long. Sorry for being negative, but you are BLESSED to not go through medsurg.

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