Applying for OR Job

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I will be graduating in May and I am going through the application process right now to start looking for internships. I will be applying for L&D at one hospital but at another hospital I would like to apply at, I have heard that they do not have a good L&D internship program so I think I would like to apply for their OR internship. My problem is that I have spent almost 2 weeks thinking about it and I cannot come up with anything good to say for the dreaded interview questions that will come! I have only spent 1 day in an OR during school so I dont know that much about it. I am almost certain I will be asked why I want to be an OR nurse!!! Well, all I can think of is that it would be fun and that it will keep me from being on a med/surge floor!!! I know that is not a good answer so if anyone has any thoughts about this or any tips for the interview process in general I would appreciate it so much!!!

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Specializes in retail NP.

before i interviewed for the new grad position (that i start tomorrow! AHHHHH!) what i did was log onto the hospitals website, read and print their mission statement (so you can make your answers seem to fit what they want the culture of their hospital to be), and then i read and downloaded tons of stuff on monster.com that provided interview tips. it was super helpful. read the job description of the job you are applying for so you can prove during the interview that you have what they are looking for....

after doing a quick cram session, you should be good. remember, you are a almost a new grad, they don't expect that you've seen and done it all. be confident, make eye contact, act interested and send a thank you letter after the interview. hope that helps!!!

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be confident, make eye contact, act interested and send a thank you letter after the interview. hope that helps!!!

Also, make sure to smile a lot and never say ANYTHING negative. For example, never say that your last job was awful or that you don't like floor nursing. Always put a positive spin on any question they ask.

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Specializes in Surgery, Ob/Gyn.

do your research about the position. read up some on what circulators and scrub nurses are expected to do. I just started my job 3 weeks ago, straight out of school. I spent a fair amount of time in the OR, but also i knew this is what I wanted to do. When I interviewed and they asked me to tell them what surgery nurses do, etc., I told them everything they were looking for. I then later found out that I knew more about surgery than the experienced floor nurses who were applying. So as a brand new grad, i beat out a lot of nursing experience to get the job. I cant tell you how glad I was that I was prepared for the interview.

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Any hints on where I can go to find out more about exactly what an OR nurse does???

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Specializes in Surgery, Ob/Gyn.

I dont know what fundamentals book you used in your nursing classes, but my fundamentals book had a small section that outlined pretty much what the scrub nurse is responsible for and what the circulator is responsible for. as far as places, other than maybe the AORN, i would just google it and see what you come up with.

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Any hints on where I can go to find out more about exactly what an OR nurse does???

http://www.aorn.org/about/periopnursing.htm

Click "about AORN"

Then click "What is Perioperative nursing"

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Thanks Mike!

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Does anyone know anything about an RN as a first assistant? I had never heard of this before and have read about it some in doing research for an OR job. Is this a position that is utilized often? Would you consider it a growing field???

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Does anyone know anything about an RN as a first assistant? I had never heard of this before and have read about it some in doing research for an OR job. Is this a position that is utilized often? Would you consider it a growing field???

An RNFA is an easier job than circulating or scrubbing, yet it pays slightly more. You hold retractors, suture, suction, ream, drill, etc. Some O.R.s hire RNFA's. Some don't. At my facility there are over 15 RNFAs! But this is not typical.

To become an RNFA, you need to first become CNOR certified. You also need ACLS certfication. Then you need to take an RNFA course. Then you have to accumulate many hours first assisting before you become a full blown RNFA.

As long as you don't mind standing for a long time without a break, RNFA is a good job.

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When applying for a position in the OR make sure they know that you are OK with little patient interaction and that you are aware of the strong personalities in the OR. I went into the OR directly out of school and it turned out it wasn't the right path for me. I thought I wouldn't mind my patient's being out under anesthesia but I truly missed a lot of what nursing school had pounded in my head over the years. When interviewing they are more than likely going to be cautious of people that "love patient interaction" because you won't find it there.

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Thank you so much!!! I am really stressed out about having to decide what to apply for, but the RNFA sounds really cool to me!!! That would give me a good goal to work towards if I decide to go the OR route for sure!

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