Circulators-do you ENJOY your position?

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I've currently been hired as a new circulator and am still in my orientation period. Originally I was told I would have a six month orientation but it's going to be more like a 9 month which is fine-better to have extra if needed-because we just don't have enough cases for me to see and work everything in a shorter time frame. Anyway, I'm having doubts. I'm only in my third month and I'm noticing that although being completely overwhelmed and feeling like I'll never figure it all out (even though they tell me I will eventually),I'm wondering if I'll like this when I'm out of orientation. I'm worried about the call-outs and working over by myself for one thing. However, I'm mostly worried how redundant it's going to be. I feel myself getting a little bored with the whole routine. I know it's challenging and still scary to me but once on my own I'm worried it will become so routine I'll get bored. I love the part of talking/interviewing the patient but most of the time they are asleep. I like the preps and getting them all set up but the whole part of the actual surgery I find myself getting really bored and restless. The surgeries are very interesting to me the first couple times I watch but then not so much. Maybe this isn't for me or maybe I just need more time. So I was just wondering if you enjoy it still and what you like about it. I just don't want to waste over half a year if it's something I'm not going to want to keep doing but maybe I just need more time. Thoughts??

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I work in a very large OR that does pretty much every kind of surgery you can imagine, so I am never bored. I am always seeing interesing things that keep me going. The stuff I see amazes me. Are you in a really small OR, or always in the same service? Maybe moving on to a larger urban OR could be an option in the future.

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Ok that' s good to know! We do have a smaller OR business and usually after lunch they are sending people home. They said this was a slower time of year so maybe when it picks up I'll get more variety. Thanks!!

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

One key point for you. Work to live, don't live to work. I enjoy anything I do that gets me to the goal of more family/fun time. OR is so far the best route I've found to that and it keeps me happy along as the check clears every other friday ;)

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

Sometimes circulating DOES get boring. I liken it to 'sterile waitressing'; get me this, can you run and get that, I know you are busy, but I really need XYZ, can you please call TUV, can you answer my pager, please, oh-sorry that I just dropped the only Adson in the set-can you cook it for me now? Sometimes I feel like I should have a tip jar next to my desk.

Have you been trained to scrub? This is FAR more exciting than circulating. You are an active participant in the surgery itself and learn SO much more when you are bellied up to the table. See if you can scrub a few cases.

When your charge nurse starts sending people home and asks if you would like to go home early, ask instead if you can double scrub with someone so you can learn this role. Trust me when I tell you that it is very fun! When I scrub a long and difficult case, I come home and excitedly tell my husband all of the things that I learned. He just laughs and tells me that I love it so much that I would do it for free...and he is right!

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Thanks for the advice! I would love to learn to scrub but they have scrub techs for that and will not pay an RN to do that now in our hospital. The older RN's do know how to scrub since they did it before scrub techs became popular and they said they really liked when they were allowed to that as well. It would be nice to be right up there and actually see exactly how they do everything! I will hang in there because it sure beats floor nursing and worry about having more fun when I'm not working!

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Specializes in OR.

You need to give it some time. Don't get me wrong, it can get very boring but it won't be like that every day. Plus, you aren't on your own yet so right now you have that preceptor to make sure everything is done and you may not even realize it's being done. When you finally lead your own room then it may be more exciting. It's been about three years and I still love being an OR nurse. I work with great people and I have just enough patient interaction to make my work feel satisfying. Sometimes too much patient interaction is just plain stressful. But who knows? you may find after a year and half that OR nursing isn't for you. And that is not a waste. Sometimes knowing what you don't like is a blessing. It'll get you closer to finding a specialty you do like. It may lead you to other opportunities you may have never known about if it weren't for the OR. So right now, learn all you can and make the most of this opportunity. There are a lot of new grads that would give anything for the opportunity you have.

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Specializes in Surgical Scrub.
Sometimes circulating DOES get boring. I liken it to 'sterile waitressing'; get me this, can you run and get that, I know you are busy, but I really need XYZ, can you please call TUV, can you answer my pager, please, oh-sorry that I just dropped the only Adson in the set-can you cook it for me now? Sometimes I feel like I should have a tip jar next to my desk.

Have you been trained to scrub? This is FAR more exciting than circulating. You are an active participant in the surgery itself and learn SO much more when you are bellied up to the table. See if you can scrub a few cases.

When your charge nurse starts sending people home and asks if you would like to go home early, ask instead if you can double scrub with someone so you can learn this role. Trust me when I tell you that it is very fun! When I scrub a long and difficult case, I come home and excitedly tell my husband all of the things that I learned. He just laughs and tells me that I love it so much that I would do it for free...and he is right!

this reply made me laugh out loud...thanks...i was on a wait list to enter nursing school when I went to "observe" in an OR for the first time. I know I wanted to work in the OR ONLY...had no desire for anything else. I was so excited to see what the nurse does in the OR...but then I saw it and thought, "this is boring." So I asked what the guy at the table, assisting the surgeon was..."just a scrub tech" was the answer I got...I did not know there was such a thing. I went home and looked in to it...there was an accredited program at the same school I was waitlisted on for the nursing program...I started the scrub tech program the very next month. I luv2scrub and am happy I know both roles in the OR, scrubbing and circulating. Where I work, the nurses have to learn to scrub so they can scrub if they want to or if we need them to scrub. Thanks for being so honest.

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Specializes in O.R., Endoscopy, PACU,Pulmonary Stepdown.

I like circulating-- it's very busy in the begining and in the end. I also scrub too which is fun as well!

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