A bit scared of orthopedics now.

going for my 4th epidural soon. well 2 epi's and one fascet joint injection and still hurting. recover quick was my prayer it happened now over 7 mths ago 1/23/08 and still in just as mush pain. and i'm young (28) have many yrs to go. love ortho. in fact i find it quite easy after a while(as far as the nursing part goes) not lifting well i'm not alowed to. not supposed to lift anything more than 10lbs. so the NA's take over on that part. yea meds...iron vit C, multi, and yes narcs narcs narcs. but u get used to it. esp if u have good NA's that got ur back...litterally

I've been on an ortho (post-surgery) floor for 2 months now, and all I can say is wow. It is crazy-busy, even with my OCD forms and pretty good time-management ... I STILL can't seem to get it together. I am constantly running around never getting a break or lunch (I've lost 5 pounds so far) ... And always staying late to chart b/c there's no time during the day. I truly don't mean to sound so negative - just being honest. I am hoping to change jobs very soon. The long days and late nights charting are keeping me from my husband and kids, and it is toxic to our home life. My kids are asleep when I leave (have to be there at 6:30 am) and they are asleep when I get home (usually around 9:00 pm) and then the cycle repeats itself for three days in a row ... so that's 72 hours that I go without seeing my 3-yr-old and 6-yr-old.

Also, the patients and their pain meds, vomiting, comorbidities are a lot to deal with. The call bells never stop. It's a wild, wild ride. I jokingly (and seriously) call my job "going to the circus to jump through rings of fire." It's like a rat race from start-to-finish, and going to the bathroom yourself is considered both a privilege and a relief from the hustle and bustle.

Honestly, I would only choose post-surgery/ortho/med-surge if you truly, truly, truly are interested or you just really are totally committed to gaining that "backbone" experience. Otherwise, run away as fast as you can and don't look back!!!!!!!

Keira

It's a floor you either hate or love is my experience. I love it, even though I got hurt moving a bed and did hurt my back. In my case I am sure it was cumulative, because I'd moved literally hundreds of beds in 20 years.
The thing I liked most was as someone said earlier, it is highly rewarding. Not counting the multiple trauma patients we'd get on occasion, most patients were greatly improved within a day or so after surgery. Plus our code cart was hardly ever needed. People with elective surgery have pre-op clearance and are in fairly good health-in other words they don't die. It is hard to get a bunch of post-ops every day, but once you learn each orthopaedist's protocol you are fairly well set. It goes without saying protect yourself, use universal precautions and body mechanics. I did but still got hurt. Another thing is our turnover seemed less than some other floors.

you know, it is difficult at times, but i wouldnt change where i am for the world. its so hard to hear other float nurses come to our floor and state outloud that they hate it! i am sooo sick of that. yes its work, just like any other floor. there are many things involved. you just have to be organized- get yourself together and make a flow. be proactive, and dont go into it with the thought that you wont like it or you will be drowing. granted it comes to that sometimes, but you deal and you learn. as for others saying that its tons of pt transfers, i dont believe that. our ortho's are up the next am, PT- with or w/out a nerve block. they learn to be independent, out pt's go to class prior and know that this is an expectation. of course you get those few, but thats any spec you go into. its not any worse on your back than other spec that i can think of, there are others that i can think of in MY facility that will crank my back a ton more than my floor.

Sounds like you work on my Floor!

Everyone has their perception of what other units are like, often not grounded in reality.

Our floor is fast paced, quick patient turnover, but there is surprising little heavy lifting.

This is because our culture is one of teamwork.

"You need help moving a patient? You got it. "

Everyone helps each other as needed and it's not bad at all.

Don't be scared. Find a good resource nurse who has worked there for a while and pick her/his brain every chance you can get--they will be happy to teach you the ropes as it empowers them to feel so highly regarded. They will help you will all the tricks of the trade (so-to-speak).

Ortho is definately a love it or hate it unit.

My first 5 yrs as a nurse I worked Med-Surg, then for the last 17 years I have worked Ortho/Neuro. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ortho part. Why? Generally, they are NOT sick, they are simply there to recover from their surgery...they get well and go home and don't linger for months on end and for the most part, dont die. Of course, you will get the older person who has fallen and is ill, but thats not the norm.

There is ALWAYS help when you need it. The comrads in arms, I call them, who will help transfer a patient without question. Always use a gait belt and use good common sense along with good back precautions and you should be just fine. Finding your own routine along with a good report sheet will be your strongest asset toward success.

Just like every unit, it has its drawbacks. There are many pitiful stories from every single nursing department, bar -none .
Give it a try and then sit down and ask yourself if you want to keep going. If not, transfer. Its not the end of the world....many nurses move around to be well-rounded nurses, and that's perfectly okay.
Then, there are nurses like me who could never imagine doing anything else.

When I first got out of school I thought I wanted to do cardiac care, then after 5 years, I KNEW what my professional destiny was. Then after 12 years I got introduced to the neuro part, and its okay (easier), but my one true love is the spines and total joint patients.

Best of luck and let us know how it is working out for you.

I graduated in December and got hired onto an Ortho/Neuro floor. I've been there since January and have learned SO much. I've been told by other nurses that it is one of the hardest floors to work on because of the high number of turnovers and the HUGE amount of pain meds that are given out. I haven't worked on any other floor before so it's hard for me to compare it to another floor. I am at the end of the orientation and taking care of 5 patients on my own. I definitely stay busy pretty much my entire shift. There are times that I wish I could just sit down and catch up on my charting instead of giving pain meds but that's just how it is. In the end it's worth it when you see a patient go from being totally bedridden crying in pain to being able to walk down the hall independently in little pain and eventually be DC'd home. It's wonderful to see the progress that the patients make. I have heard many nurses complain about being floated to our floor and even nurses who will call out of work if they find out they are being floated to our floor. It may be hard but it has definitely helped me to manage my time as a new nurse. I've been told that if I can work on this floor then I can work anywhere and hopefully that is true. In the end, I think it is a good experience for a new nurse. It may be overwhelming at first but it's totally worth it =)