Advice for a OR nurse wanting to make move to the ED

[optimistic92]

Hello everyone! I am new here to this forum, literally just discovered it's exsistence. Just wondering if there is anyone out there that has made the switch from the OR to the ED and advice? Advice from any ER nurses is welcome though! I am still a relatively new RN (almost 2 years now). I spent a year and a half doing floor nursing at a small community hospital and the past couple of months working in the operating room at a level 1 trauma center. I am still in the orientation process and while I do enjoy seeing the surgeries I am quickly coming to the realization that I have made a big mistake. I didn't realize just how much I would miss the patient interaction, treatments, and doing assessments. I'm disappointed in myself being that I felt I did plenty of research before making the switch and even observed and I still feel like I didn't realize what it would be until I actually got the job. While I admire everything that nurses in the OR it just isn't the type of nursing I want to do (nothing personal). I don't want to feel like I am hopping from job to job, but I also still have that urge to do something more critical and challenging and I don't want to lose the skills I have learned already from floor nursing. I want to feel like I am making a difference and saving lives. Right now I don't. Sorry for the rant.

[wyosamRN]

I made that switch- it is easy to make that wrong assessment about what life in the OR is like, even after shadowing. At first, surgery is exciting, you feel like you're part of it, but after a while, if its not your passion, you realize that other people are doing surgery, you're spending 15 minutes a day interacting with awake patients, and charting the same thing over and over and over. Does the trauma center you're at have any ED openings? Maybe go talk to them, let them know your plans, and also very importantly- talk to your current boss. If you're only a couple months in, then you likely have quite a bit more time to become fully oriented to the unit, and they are likely to appreciate the honestly and may be willing to help you get on in another department. While they may be sad to see you go, its better than finding out after they have spent 6 months to year getting a new to the OR nurse fully oriented, then having them leave.

[AZQuik]

Just to prepare you, you don't spend most of your time in the ED feeling like you're," making a difference and saving lives"

It does happen, but this is probably not how you will feel most of the time at work (you will get that feeling though and it does feel good) but you will feel other things more often than not.

[optimistic92]

Thank you guys for taking the time to respond! They do have a full time position open here in our ED department. I have been considering going to management as I don't want to continue miss possible opportunities or waste there time.

[twozer0, NP]

Its going to be an eye opener for sure! As an OR nurse, your patient responsibility is limited and by that i mean VERY limited. Your job is very specialized though in that you need to know a lot of equipment and procedural nuances. It's going to be an uphill battle, one that you can do but its going to be a lot! You'll have so much to learn on the medical side of things but you'll get there. Be a listener and active learner! Learn all the new meds you'll need to use outside of the standard antibiotics and local you guys use. Know why you'll be using them. Hang in there, you're in for a bumpy ride!