I have learned so much from this site, it has given me a clear idea of where I want to be in nursing, and what it will take to get there.
I am an RN now, passed the NCLEX in June. Due to also being a parent, I chose not to take a job right away and took the summer off to be with my kids after the stress of nursing school. I was up for an internship in September, but that didn't work out. After researching here, I am sure of my desire to be an OR nurse so I am off to a Perioperative course in Sept. I was an A student in nursing school, and I know how to study. My nursing school was very good, we had a lot of clinical time, which is why I know that while I can do bedside nursing, I just prefer not to.
I am doing this Periop course on my own dime, and it's out of state and pricey, so I would welcome any advice/ opinions from those who have either done it before or experienced nurses who want to pass along any do's / don'ts. To complicate matters, I have chosen to super specialize in pediatric surgery.
I am not a young'un. This is a second career and my first one was also with the public so I have a thick skin. I would just like to get as much out of this course as I can, so any advice is welcome.
hello all. i promised i would recount my experience on my independent route to the or. there is only one hospital in my area that has an internship to the or for new nurses and i got close to a position, but it had issues that i couldn't reconcile so i needed another route.
nursing school and shadow days convinced me that the or was my dream nursing job. this is a second career for me, so i think it's easier for me to know where and how i want to work. numerous times on this board the question is asked "straight to the or?" by new or soon to be new nurses. after doing this on my own and to the tune of 2+ thousand of my dime, my conclusion is this: it depends. i had a few bad moments after finishing the program. i loved the program, loved the internship, but during the internship it became clear that the hospital in which i was interning was in a hiring freeze. with the economy in the state it is in, the supposed "nursing shortage" has dried up around me. there are still plenty of nursing jobs, it's just that they are for experienced nurses. remember a new nurse is an expensive nurse for a hospital. this was told to me by one of my preceptors who was aghast that i didn't have floor experience.
the kicker is, i actually turned down a job that i really would have liked, because i knew that in six months i would have completed the program and want to leave. i just couldn't reconcile the ethics of being trained by a facility and then leaving six months later after they'd invested in me. so i didn't take it. i continued with my flexible non- nursing job while i did the periop program, reasoning that i would go right to the or asap, and i couldn't manage a new rn job, school and family all at once. during my interviewing experiences it was clear that i would have been much better off having done just that, and my explanation of the ethical quandary seemed to satisfy no one.
i am lucky. i have been offered my dream job in an excellent hospital. it's a drive, and it won't be easy for me, but i am thrilled. and, i repeat, lucky.
so here's my humble opinion. if you're in nursing school about to graduate, unless you get a paid internship from a hospital, do a year on the floor. don't go the independent route, it's too risky right now. the longer you're out of school and not working as an active rn, the squeegier everyone gets. my explanation of wanting the summer off to get to know my children again was met with smiles, but didn't help. they want experience. period.
hope this helps somebody!
thanks to all of you that consistently and patiently answer the ever occurring "should i go to the or" posts!
I want to be certified and an ORN. Presently I work in an Operating Room but would like to be certified as an ORN. So if anyone has the name of a school doing such a program I would be grateful.
FlyOR
59 Posts
i originally posted this in a separate thread. i thought perhaps it might be more useful here.
by flyor
hello all. i promised i would recount my experience on my independent route to the or. there is only one hospital in my area that has an internship to the or for new nurses and i got close to a position, but it had issues that i couldn't reconcile so i needed another route.
nursing school and shadow days convinced me that the or was my dream nursing job. this is a second career for me, so i think it's easier for me to know where and how i want to work. numerous times on this board the question is asked "straight to the or?" by new or soon to be new nurses. after doing this on my own and to the tune of 2+ thousand of my dime, my conclusion is this: it depends. i had a few bad moments after finishing the program. i loved the program, loved the internship, but during the internship it became clear that the hospital in which i was interning was in a hiring freeze. with the economy in the state it is in, the supposed "nursing shortage" has dried up around me. there are still plenty of nursing jobs, it's just that they are for experienced nurses. remember a new nurse is an expensive nurse for a hospital. this was told to me by one of my preceptors who was aghast that i didn't have floor experience.
the kicker is, i actually turned down a job that i really would have liked, because i knew that in six months i would have completed the program and want to leave. i just couldn't reconcile the ethics of being trained by a facility and then leaving six months later after they'd invested in me. so i didn't take it. i continued with my flexible non- nursing job while i did the periop program, reasoning that i would go right to the or asap, and i couldn't manage a new rn job, school and family all at once. during my interviewing experiences it was clear that i would have been much better off having done just that, and my explanation of the ethical quandary seemed to satisfy no one.
i am lucky. i have been offered my dream job in an excellent hospital. it's a drive, and it won't be easy for me, but i am thrilled. and, i repeat, lucky.
so here's my humble opinion. if you're in nursing school about to graduate, unless you get a paid internship from a hospital, do a year on the floor. don't go the independent route, it's too risky right now. the longer you're out of school and not working as an active rn, the squeegier everyone gets. my explanation of wanting the summer off to get to know my children again was met with smiles, but didn't help. they want experience. period.
hope this helps somebody!
thanks to all of you that consistently and patiently answer the ever occurring "should i go to the or" posts!