Comparing Wages in the OR setting

Specialties Operating Room

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I work in a small town ambulatory surgery center.There are only five of us nurses. 4 Rn's and 1 LPN. The patients who come in only receive conscious sedation. We have no general anesthesia.

My questions might be a little bold to be asking. I was wondering what kind of wages are being paid to be an OR nurse.

I am now getting 17.89 an hour. I am fairly new in this field. I graduated with a ADN in 1999. I was just curious and was wondering what was out there in terms of wages.

dmclung

I can't believe the salaries that I am seeing. I am from Chicago, lived there for 30 years and relocated to Connecticut. I am a LPN making $28.00/hr working with the pool. I am going for my BSN this fall and a agency wants to start me at $42.00/hr for specialty work once my BSN is completed....

RELOCATE!!!

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Hello everyone! My name is Michael, and currently I am an ADN student in oklahoma City. So far, I have taken a great interest in working in OR, and was wondering if anyone could explain the concept and give details about First Assistants (RNFA)?

Thank You

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mikestudrn,

http://www.AORN.org will have a wealth of knowledge re all phases of periop. nursing.

RNFA's act as first assistants to the surgeon during procedures. Some duties include, clamping, suturing, tying and retracting for exposure.

There are many RNFA programs available for periop. nurses. The general requirements include certification in periop. nursing which in itself requires at least 3 years of OR nursing. There is an intensive 3 week program of classroom and lab work followed by a 6 month-1 year internship.The facility you work in must be willing to provide a mentoring program in which you work directly with 1 or 2 surgeons who provide hands - on training in frist assisting. RNFA programs cost around $3,000-5,000.

After the classwork and internship you may be able to sit for the certifiying exam and become a CRNFA. I believe you need a BSN though to become certified.

Good luck; perioperative nursing is wonderful !

Paula

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Nurses-stand up and fight for what you are worth. All of you are seriously underpaid. There are jobs you could get in pharmaceuticals where you walk in the door with an RN and get $55K!

After returning to nursing after a long absense, I am convinced that hospitals pay what they do cause they can get away with it! There is a nursing shortage--wages should be going up--significantly.

Look at pharmacists--they used to make less than a nurse in the early 80's--now they make upwards of $75K as a beginner. We nurses have got to stand up for better wages and also for 401K plans!

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Hi Phe Phe:

Have you heard of any pharm co's in particular that are good to work for?

I have a degree in Communications and am just finishing an accel BSN. I have a sales background, too.

I'm starting to waffle about doing clinical work as I've had such an awful experience with clinicals in school and have had an instructor from hell whom we all refer to as Satan. I often have thought it is a sign I should be doing something else!

zzzzzgirl

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Well I guess I am going to stop complaining!!! I've been a nurse since 1989, and now have 10 yrs. exp. in the OR, and I make 27.74, and our top out is a little over 28...

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I have been a nurse since 1978, and currently work in the OR in a Houston suburban hospital. I make over 31 an hour, plus 1.50 hour specialty pay, call is time and a half, plus one hour regular pay for each time you are called in. $2.00 hour for being on call and carrying that beeper anywhere and everywhere. Also work three 12 hour shifts and take call only once every 8-10 weeks on a Sat and Sun. No call during the week.

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New grad, $21.58/hr. Just day shift M-F for first 9 months, then every 6th weekend on call after that.

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I have been reading this thread with great interest. I am an OR RN in the United Kingdom with 5 years experience, I have converted your pay scales to sterling and am amazed. I work for the NHS and am payed the following in dollars $14.49 p/hr basic o/c is $3.75 p/hr (slightly better here!) I average one on call a week for general/ trauma and possibly 2 calls for opthalamic cover.

One thought struck me do you guys scrub for cases over there and do you rotate areas, say general to orthopaedic to ENT etc

Sukisocks

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Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

suckisocks, where I work we scrub everything and anything that comes through the door. We have one Tech but the rest of the staff are RNs. Sorry for your pay, that is under what a new grad would make here. I know how expensive it is to live in the UK. I lived there for three years back in the early 60s when I was a wee lad. My wife was born in Cambridge and we spent a month in the UK back in 1987 and couldn't believe then the cost of buying a home with the wages earned. Mike

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25 yrs in the OR,

LPN then RN in 1990. CNOR and RNFA

Live in the Midwest

small rural hospital

$28.00/hr looks like the Midwest is on top!:kiss

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We sure aren't going to get more wages unless we organize now ARE we?

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