Attn: Nurses hired into the OR within the last 6 months to a year!

Specialties Operating Room

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I recently accepted an OR position and will start this month. I'm beyond excited! I'm still trying to find my niche in nursing and I have a good feeling about this. My question is for those who have started within the last 6 months to a year, how are you liking it so far? How is orientation going? I know there is a huge learning curve and I'm prepared to take it one day at a time. Any tips you could suggested from your experience so far? I come with ICU experience.

For anybody who has more than a year of experience in OR, feel free to input as well! I'm curious to see the perspective of those still in or just finishing up the 6-9 month orientation.

Specializes in OR.

Bump -- updates?

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i started a little over a year ago. i loved the position and the training. Make sure your preceptor lets you do not just watch him/her do. This is a position where hands on experiential learning is key. I took notes after a better preceptor told me what i should be taking notes about such as the surgeons equipment settings, preferred instruments. Surgeons can do the same thing but use totally different stuff. Also note their patient positioning preferences for each type of surgery and the positioning aids that they prefer and their quirks! one surgeon may like his patients taped and another may not want the tape touching their skin etc...and those little things can make a big difference in your good day! Listen to your tech, they will be your best friend. Be careful, I lost my OR career 2 months after i finished my 6 month training, i was orienting to my specialty and I had a massive fall that may have put me out of nursing period! We were in the dark doing a video assisted surgery, i was in a hurry to do my closing count so that I could do a sign out with my surgeon before he broke scrub and left the room, which he had done in a prior surgery so i missed my chance to do a sign out and my manager was mad about it because we are supposed to go over the specimens during sign out to make sure they are all correct. I guess the doc trusted that I got it right and didn't feel the need to do a sign out, he left while i was in the middle of the closing count. I didn't want it to happen again so i rushed over to the tech's table but instead got tangled up in cords because i was in an old room where the sockets are not on the ceiling. Most important thing, protect yourself so that you can enjoy this amazing specialty. I loved it and now i miss it. OR nursing is a beautiful thing.

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The operating room is super exciting for me personally, everyday is something new, I love talking and interacting with my patient and their family. I've worked in the Or for 14 months and around the one year mark you start to get really comfortable with your circulating role. Or at least I did. I started out working at a level 1 trauma teaching hospital that had 22 ORs and 7 different specialties of surgery (plastic, neuro etc.) and that was a VERY stressful place with high turnover and a real bad atmosphere/morale. I left that place and joined a 7 OR ortho hospital that is way better, family atmosphere, almost everyone is a pleasure to work with and the doctors actually follow the consent and respect the surgery team more here. My advice to an anyone starting new is remember that your most important role is PATIENT ADVOCATE, not the doctors friend. If sterile field is broken or threatened by ANYONE. Speak up immediately. Even if you get yelled at you know you are in the right protecting your patient from infection. Be the nurse you would want to have, don't be afraid to stand up for what's right. And another thing, don't just go home, research the surgeries you have for tomorrow, think ahead about how they should be positioned and things like that the day before so you can walk in to work and not have to think and pause or run and go get a preference sheet of the surgeon. Another piece of advice is try not to talk much at all during a case(surgery) because it can annoy and distract the surgery team especially an OCD doctor. Help anesthesia as much as they want you to so that things run smoothly. And go the extra mile and try to get things done as quickly as possible. Even tho things shouldn't be rushed surgery turnover is always being pushed to go faster, the charge nurse will push you to do everything faster so that the surgeons aren't at work longer than they want to be. And be careful how fast you walk and where you step bc there is lots of cords and things all over the ground (bones, skin, blood) it's a slip-N-slide and I fell the other day bc I wasn't watching where I stepped. And it's also important to stick up for yourself when a person in your surgery team is rude to you. Either do it immediately after the fact or if you are shy and want more privacy take them aside later and let them know that you were hurt by what they said to and that it's not okay to talk to you that way. After you have been in the OR for about 6 months and you build a bond with your team and everyone helps each other you really start to feel like family, and it's a nice feeling after the case is over when it was all a success and no one got frustrated or angry. If you like staying busy, helping people, learning and seeing new things then the OR is for you. If you get your feelings hurt easily, don't like speaking up, or you don't have much confidence in yourself in general the I t may be harder for you in the beginning but nothing will toughen your skin more than surgery. It's a wonderful place to work. Always something interesting going on.

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Specializes in Surgical ICU nurse.

I just took a position coming from SICU so it will be very interesting!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Float Pool, MICU, CTICU.

I'm officially off orientation you guys. I'm flying solo, but I'm never alone :)

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I'm over twenty years in the OR now and it is really hitting home that I'm getting better clinically every year. Patient diagnoses, conditions, and medications all have direct implications in the OR for positioning, prep, anesthetics, antibiotics and other medication (just as they do in other specialties). Experience really makes a difference, and nurses that come into the OR with significant clinical experience may have a head start on integrating that knowledge into OR practice.

As far as OR nurses in comparison to other specialties, our knowledge of anatomy is direct and I might say superior for that reason. When nurses on the floor to ICU have a question about why they are doing certain things to certain patients, I can often help them put it together. As a CVOR nurse, I'm a cool head and a whiz with a defibrillator in a code. How many nurses can zip out a synchronized defibrillation, or open a chest in ER and do open heart massage? Yup, we are clinical. And yes, some of us get good at Foleys. I cringe when I see sterile insertions by other nurses and have little doubt why UTIs are by far the most common complication of hospitalization.

OR nurses should be proud of their clinical skills and in my experience these are enhanced over time in the OR.

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I've been in the OR for about a year now, I started at a smaller hospital, and got accepted into the periop program there (15 ORs) but moved to a larger facility because it was closer to home (22 ORs spread out over three buildings). I am stressed! The cases are longer and much more acute! I'm so nervous about how acute the patients are at times. I love the OR and what I do but the difference is so huge Im considering going to a different hospital that is still closer than my first but smaller (15 ORs). Think I should? I've only been at the larger hospital for three months...

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Specializes in OR.

Don't jump ship again so quickly - it takes time to get more comfortable in the bigger OR settings with the more complex cases. The more you do them the more confident you will become and one day soon it will be like the light bulb clicks and you suddenly will feel like you are " home"! I came from a small outpatient surgery to a level 1 trauma center, so I totally understand! Even with 14 years OR experience; it took me almost a year to feel like I was really comfortable in the big OR. I love it , and wouldn't dream of going back! The challenge is worth it, hang in there Coco!

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This post was great. Thank you to everyone that commented. I recently interviewed for an OR position and feel confident they will offer me the spot. Its sounds rewarding and challenging. I am still nervous about the decision and am not sure how I feel about the on call. I previously had a bad experience with on call at my last job (basically wanted you to work 24 hrs), which I felt was incredibly unsafe for me and my patients. Needless to say I spoke up to management but my issues were never addressed. This led me to applying for new opportunities. Seems like the OR is 40 hrs per week M-F. On call once per week on a weekday from 11p-7a and one weekend day every 3 weeks (24 hrs on either Sat or Sun). If you find yourself on a case late into the night they give you a 4 hr sleep break or you can stay and leave early. Does any of this sound familiar to any of you? Any input on your 'on call' would be appreciated. I feel the opportunity is beyond amazing but do not want to waste anyone's time if it is not the right fit for me especially since I'm one of those people that appreciate 8 hrs of sleep. I'm not as young as I used to be! Lol

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Hi everyone!! I'm a new grad and am interviewing for the Perioperative Program tomorrow morning. I am so nervous and excited! I was told to review the scrub nurse and circulating nurse positions and what it entails. I was also told to prepare for those personality questions. I just wanted to know from you guys where should I go to research this information? I generally have a poor brain-mouth filter and want to be as reheorificed as possible. I have worked as a tech in the SICU for almost 5 years and then on a med/surg floor. I know I will be unhappy on a med/surg floor. I like to see quick results and I feel that the OR may help to fill that need (among others). Anything that you guys think that would help me would be great and thank you in advance!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Float Pool, MICU, CTICU.

Review the roles of both circulating and scrub nurse. Special achievements of the hospital regarding surgery i.e. the use of o arm, hybrid rooms for tavr, robotics, etc. New technology use in the OR. The hospital mission statement. They will ask you why the OR over other departments. They also ask you typical questions like strengths, weakness, time where you went above and beyond, times you handle/dealt with conflict. Prepare for a panel interview.Also bring in a list of questions, they like that you thought ahead about that. Ask them about orientation length, what shift you will most likely be working and the hours (8, 10, or 12 hr shifts), and taking call. Ask to get a tourof the OR.

As part of the interview process, I got to spend a couple of hours shadowing a nurse to see if the OR is a place I wanted to be in.

Hope this helps :) There are plenty of helpful post within this forum to help you get ask idea of what the OR is like.

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After my interview I go into the OR for a few hours to shadow a nurse so I'm super stoked about that! I've been reading up on Scrub and Circulating functions and responsibilities. I've started writing down questions already so I'm glad I did that. I just need to articulate better why I want OR over the other options. I like seeing quick results, I know I would terribly unhappy being on a Med/Surg floor, I love high acuity/stressful situations, I like to be kept on my toes, I never want to strive for normalcy. But for some reason it sounds bad in my head to say that bc I do not want to offend anyone who may want that or came from that. I could be over thinking this as well. I'm trying very hard to monitor my brain-mouth malfunction too. :wacky: Thank you for your feedback too!!

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