I've gotten a couple of PMs from members asking about a job as an OR nurse. In the interests of sharing those questions with anyone interested in a career as an OR nurse, I thought I'd start a thread for those questions to be posted. I'll check in regularly and answer the ones I can, and I'm sure the other regulars here in the OR forum will share their knowledge as well.
Hello! I start my first OR nursing job in February. How can I prepare? Should I study books to memorize tools/charting/whatever else I need to know. Thank you!
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
Hi maggieb14! A great book to get your hands on is Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery. It will have a wealth of information for you about many aspects of surgery. Look into joining AORN - The Association of Operating Room Nurses. Get a copy of the AORN Standards of Care. It's huge, so don't try to read it all at once; pick a section to study, & learn. It covers every aspect from sterilizing/cleaning instruments to ending counts & everything in between. It's the top of the line in explaining how to provide the highest standard of care in the Perioperative setting. Lastly, spend time with your soon-to-be colleagues, see if you can meet in the break room with them, ask questions, look at a sample of the charting, maybe even get a tour of the OR. Good luck to you!
Future_RN2016, there is a lot to learn in order to function well in an OR. I worked for almost 25 years in an OR where we took night, weekend, & holiday call. I'm not sure what your facility is classified as, where it's located, & how specialties are handled. In a smaller hospital (I worked in a 200 bed one) we specialized for the day shift scheduled surgeries - I was Vascular & Neuro - but because we took a lot of call, we had to know it all. In a large trauma center, where I spent my final 5 years, we had 24/7 staffing, yet still took call if other urgent cases came in. It all depends on staffing. At any rate, it takes a good 9-12 months to become knowledgeable with all specialties! There are so many of them, & within each specialty, there are so many surgical procedures to learn about: instrumentation,equipment needed, positioning (& equipment for that), medications needed, etc. Multiply that by how many surgeons are in that specialty, & you needing to know their particular needs & quirks for all of the varying procedures! Now add needing to learn where to find said instrumentation & equipment, & anticipating what else may possibly be needed, & have it at hand. Did I mention charting? Most facilities use electronic charting, which takes awhile to become familiar with; there are a good 16-18 pages of computerized charting with the program our med center uses. It can be frustrating trying to get it done, as well as keep an eye on the surgery, the sterile field, helping anesthesia staff, performing counts, etc.
I'm not trying to scare you; you'll have plenty of help I'm sure while you orient. I've been an OR RN for 33 years, after working the 1st 5 years of my career on a surgical floor. My easiest job was in an Ortho Surgery Center: 27 docs, but at least only 1 specialty, with sub-specialities divided up into hands/forearms, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, & fractures. No weekends, nights, holidays. I worked there for 7 years, it was busy, but a great way to go: I thought I'd put that out there as another aspect of OR Nursing for you to think about. There are many ambulatory surgery centers these days, most are fairly new, state-of-the-art facilities.
I know I made it sound difficult, but OR Nursing is my passion. Don't be afraid to jump in. You'll learn to multitask, to prioritise, organize, anticipate, think on the fly & outside the box! And always carry a pad of paper in your pocket to take notes as you learn things, as well as make lists of what you need for your room stock, next procedure, etc. I can guarantee, if your scrub tech asks you to go to the sterile core for 5 things, you'll forget at least 1 of them. And there's another point I'll make: in my 33 years, I've managed to learn how to scrub almost all but open heart surgeries. Brain & spine, General, Ob-Gyn, Uro, Vascular (peripheral & descending aorta), Plastics, ENT, Maxillofacial, Opthalmic. Being able to scrub gives you another perspective of what we do for each patient; you're seeing the anatomy up close, & gaining insight for the surgical procedure itself. It also can make you more marketable as you move along in your career, having the dual skill-sets of Circulator AND Scrub Nurse. Good luck to you, getting ready to start you career just as I'm ending mine.
Thank you so much for such and informative response you give me so much hope .I want to eventually learn most of the other or specialties as well with the exception of ob-gyn (not my area lol) ..i want to become a travel nurse within the next few years i wonder if there is a lot of opportunity in the ortho sector for travel purposes ..oh well i guess i'll see what the future holds .
Such a great thread, thank you. I am curious about a couple things regarding the perioperative umbrella.
So is it correct to say that the AORN is the association of perioperative nurses, but only focuses on the OR and does not include PACU and pre-op? (I guess that's why Operative in perioperative is capitalized on their website!).
With that in mind, I am wondering if it is customary to only train in one specific area of perioperative services or whether it is possible to cross-train. The large hospitals in my area either have nurses do the OR or pre-op/PACU track after one year of med-surg. However, from reading threads on AN, it seems that some nurses work in all the different areas, albeit in maybe smaller hospitals? I realize the training for the OR is long and that PACU often requires a critical-care background so you wouldn't be able to train for both simultaneously, but in time and with additional training, is it possible to alternate among the different specialties of perioperative care (pre-op, OR, PACU) in the same hospital?
It is possible but from my experience very rare and probably is only done in very small hospitals. The OR is very different from most other specialties and the skill set isn't transferable to most other jobs. Doing all three jobs would be a lot to keep up with at the same time.
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
AORN is only for Operating Room nurses. PACU has their own version, & I think Pre-Op may as well. While we put Pre-Op, Intra-Op, & PACU all under the "Perioperative" umbrella, be assured, each unit has its own set of standards & competencies. As I was the 3-11 shift Charge RN, I spent a lot of time in PACU, if it was a busy evening. Also ICU. As a result, I completed the competency requirements for those units as well, so I could easily function anywhere I was needed. I can calculate a dopamine drip, run a code, monitor a progressing MI. So that would be my response: get confident as an OR Nurse, then in a year or two - or more - expand your skills laterally, build upon a solid foundation. Good luck! Nursing is a dynamic Profession: if we don't learn something new everyday, we're not paying attention. :)
I got accepted into a New Grad OR program with two years commitment. I had shadowed OR nurses and I thought I like it, but for some reason I keep thinking I will be trap in OR forever. I feel that because I would not use nursing skills for two years I would never get hire in ICU or ED. I'm terrified to no be able to change specialities. Do you know someone from OR who move to ICU or ED?
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Do you know someone from OR who move to ICU or ED?
I've worked with several nurses who have moved into other specialties after working in the OR, including ICU, hospice, office settings. Whether a nurse flourishes or flounders in a new specialty depends a lot on personality and support given in the new unit.
I've worked with several nurses who have moved into other specialties after working in the OR, including ICU, hospice, office settings. Whether a nurse flourishes or flounders in a new specialty depends a lot on personality and support given in the new unit.
And it's the same for nurses transferring into the OR. I've seen some do very, very well and others who can hardly survive. Like Rose said, a lot depends on personality and support.
I love taking care of one patient at a time, as I have taken the personality tests, and I am very task oriented. I can multi task within the parameters of one surgical case, but I was a terrible floor nurse, as I was disorganized and distracted by having several patients at a time, and I am not emotionally able to be in charge. I haven't seen anyone else on this thread say this, but I love working with guys!
Specializes in OR 35 years; crosstrained ER/ICU/PACU.
Sop832, how long have you been a nurse? Prioritizing & organizational skills usually develop with experience, over time. My very first job as a GN was on a Surgical floor; I learned in a hurry how to organize my patient treatments, meds, assessments, etc. Even now, 39 years later, 33 of them in the OR as of now, I start my day 15 minutes early. I clean my OR (disinfectant wipes) then get the 1st case of the day ready to open with my ST. I'm getting extra equipment, supplies, & meds for the case & I'm also running through my subsequent cases in my head, making a mental list of what I'll need for those cases as well. A pad is always in my pocket is at the ready for me to jot down notes, where I plan the next case: I'm always a step ahead, even getting my echarts organized. If you're fairly new to the OR, try to see what cases you'll be assigned to the afternoon before; look at the surgeon preference cards, take notes. Find out what extra supplies you may need: find where they are, maybe even gather them on a cart outside your OR, to minimize your running around. Over time you'll be running with high-speed efficiency, & multitasking will become 2nd nature to you! Good luck! ��
Thank you for this thread. I am currently working on an ortho/neuro unit in a hospital in South Texas. I graduated last December and do not yet have a full year of nursing under my belt. I am very interested in going to the OR. Does working in the OR allow for more family time? I currently work nights and feel I don't have enough time with my family. How different is Day surgery? Thank you for any reply you may have.
maggieb14
2 Posts
Hello! I start my first OR nursing job in February. How can I prepare? Should I study books to memorize tools/charting/whatever else I need to know. Thank you!