Anyone leave the OR and come back?

Specialties Operating Room

Published

I'm getting kind of tired with my OR and the BS i have to deal with often. Its getting harder each day to get my lazy unmotivated butt out of bed to go to work. Everytime i'm assigned with a doc i can't stand working with its even harder. We usually get to see our assignments for the next day so most of us are crowded around the charge nurse's desk at the end of our shifts. Some moaning/groaning, complaining or sighing. I hardly hear anyone say "Yes its going to be a awesome day tomorrow!" lol. I admit there are some days i get to work with favorite docs and love it. I think i need to change hospitals but at the same time i'm comfortable there. I'm also interested in trying other areas of nursing, like ICU, Emergency or Dialysis. I like the OR and want to stay but afraid if i do i'll be missing out on other areas that i may perhaps love. I think if i do leave i will eventually go back but try another OR. This is the first OR i have ever worked in so i can not compare it to others but i have heard from many that we are one of the most unorganized and chaotic. Has anyone here ever left the OR and tried another area of nursing? If so, what area and how long did you stay? And, did you like it? Thanks for your feedback.

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Specializes in OPERATING ROOM, ICU.

I've been there and done that!:twocents: I felt the same way you do now, but I also had other concerns. I went straight into OR after passing my boards and I was concerned about losing/forgetting general nursing skills. I transferred to ICU for almost a year. (Went from working days to working midnights.:down:) Learned a lot of stuff, experienced floating to CCU, PCU, ER (I hated to float). At the same time I did PRN in the OR at another hospital to keep those skills. Bottom line: I learned a lot of critical care skills that I took back to the OR with me. I now feel confident in absolutely any situation, whether or not I've done it before. I greatly missed the OR while I was away (you will too), but for me the break was needed. Follow your heart. Good luck to you! :heartbeat

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I have some advice which you probably already know but. Whatever you do, Don't look at your assignment if thats the kinda thing that will stress you outside of work.

Look at whats right with your job rather than worrying about whats wrong. You can keep searching and searching moving from one floor to another finding problem after problem. In the end you'll miss out on whats happening around you. Good people taking care of people in need. I know positive thoughts only get you so far. However, how you present yourself to the world directly influences how the world sees you. So if you dread working with a specific person (Scrub tech, surgeon Anethetist) things you do maybe in without knowing it probably reinforce this.

In the end its only you. Do whats best for yourself.

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Specializes in OR - Telemetry - HBPC.

I have 22 years of OR experience. I started working there when I was 21 years old. I left the OR several years ago and have never gone back. I am a case manager now and I love it! Of course the OR is my first love, but I also enjoy what I do now. I think the OR is for young people, and I'm not getting any younger.

Get out there and try other areas. You just might find something you like better. Who knows?

Maybe it would be a good idea :idea: to transfer in house at first so you won't lose seniority, just in case you want to go back "home".

Good luck with whatever you decide!

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Specializes in 2 years school nurse, 15 in the OR!.

I've been in the OR for 10 years, and I felt burned out a couple of years ago. I went and did school nursing for 2 years. That did it for me. I went back to the OR and am so happy now. Didn't know how good I had it until I worked with 10 and 11 year olds who complain of stomach aches all day and just wanted to get out of class. Try something different, and that will help you decide. Good luck!:nurse:

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Specializes in Operating Room.

What might help is maybe getting a per diem job in another specialty etc. I'm thinking of doing this, not because I hate the OR, but for exposure to different things and more cash, of course!

You could always apply elsewhere. There are other ORs out there and you have some experience under your belt now.

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

Issey the scene of nurses crowding around looking at the allocations is something I'm very familiar with. At the end of the day I don't even look at it anymore because I don't want to go home and dread where I'll be the next day.

I'm having similar problems to you right now where I feel disillusioned about my workplace and considering other options. I have worked in ICU as a new grad for 4 months and loved the work, hated the hours. I have never worked in another OR either and am concerned I'll get a job somewhere else and it will be worse.

I have thought about doing agency for one shift a week just to shop around, see other OR's and what the morale is like. Our management don't really approve of regular staff doing though.

I too love working with my favourite surgeons and as I specialise now in hepatobiliary, upper GI it's great accumulating the knowledge and being appreciated for it.

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Looking to see what one is doing for the next day occurs at my facility too. It is made worse by charge sometimes giving into the moans. It seems to be a common thing.

If you are looking for another job because of the stressors like this, you may want to take this advice that was given to me a few years ago. The pasture is not greener but it is another pasture. It means that even if you go somewhere that they do not make a deal out of assignments; the new facility will have other problems. Are you willing to trade one problem for another or can you manage the few that your facility presents?

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