ONC

RN ONC here

Yes, ONC. I have been an active Orthopedic staff RN almost my whole career. I just love everything about it. I love the fast pace of a surgical floor, always interesting. Seeing the patients from the acute phase after surgery with all of the challenges, through to discharge, is very gratifying. Usually these patients have a positive outcome. I like the patient population with their elective surgeries then the traumas that come through. It's hard work but I have no problems with that, I believe it has kept me strong, really. I recently became Med/Surg certified too, just because it made the most sense to go along with Orthopedic patients and now the General Surgery patients on my unit, as they all have comorbidities. Also Med/Surg is a definite specialty and being certified in that makes sense for all patient populations. I also wanted to make peace with myself and validate that although I've done mostly Ortho it does not mean that I am not well rounded by any means. There has been very little I haven't been exposed to being an Ortho nurse, it's just a matter of degree. My hospital restructured unfortunately, and now we have a general post op unit comprised of Ortho and General Surgery patients. Some nurses just don't 'get' the Ortho patient and their particular needs etc... We try to separate the Ortho as best as possible. I like the general surgery patients too, as I like the acute post op phase in any patient, but my niche is definitely Orthopedic.

I'm a RN ONC. Love the Ortho and post-op patient. Believe it or not, we are also on overflow unit for GYN patients. It's a good mix and they're clean surgical patients. We do not take any infections of any kind on our floor.

Yes, the Orthopedic patient is a 'clean' surgical patient, which I prefer. The other surgical patients with the bellies and the bile just don't compare, in my opinion. There is always so much to learn and understand about the mechanics of the musculoskeletal system that I find so interesting!

I have worked ortho for 6 years and just passed the ONC last week. I love Ortho!