Does your facility teach new grad RN's to scrub?

[chief76]

I guess you could say this is more or less a survey. I would be very curious to know if your facility or any facility that you know of includes scrub training in their new grad internships/residencies. I'm about to start my final semester of nursing school and will start applying for these positions this fall. I would like to get into travel nursing down the road. So I think having scrub experience would be beneficial. Currently where I am, most hospitals only have their nurses circulating. But I would like to go to a hospital that does both, if possible. I'm currently in a compact state, so I would have some options in moving out of state for an internship/residency. If anyone happens to know of new grad programs that have their nurses scrubbing, I would really appreciate the info. If you feel more comfortable PM'ing, that's perfectly fine also.

Thanks!!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

My facility is very reliant on surgical technologists. In fact, over 50% of our intraop staff is STs. We are affiliated with a school that has an ST program.

I know that AORN pushes for a 70%/30% split in favor of RNs; however, I can see the other side: STs come out of school knowing how to scrub, knowing the names of instruments, knowing the basics of setting up for surgeries. They need much less orientation because of how much they learned in school, compared to the new graduate RN who doesn't know any of that.

[chief76]

My facility is very reliant on surgical technologists. In fact, over 50% of our intraop staff is STs. We are affiliated with a school that has an ST program.

I know that AORN pushes for a 70%/30% split in favor of RNs; however, I can see the other side: STs come out of school knowing how to scrub, knowing the names of instruments, knowing the basics of setting up for surgeries. They need much less orientation because of how much they learned in school, compared to the new graduate RN who doesn't know any of that.

I agree. I have just seen positions in some areas of the country that I would like to eventually work, that scrub experience is highly desired. So I was hoping to possibly get it if I could. It just seems like it is harder and harder to find.

[OR RN87]

I am not a new grad, but new to the OR. My facility taught me how to circulate and scrub. The first couple weeks of orientation are learning such skills. Also, orientation at my facility is 9 months. Every couple of weeks we will have classes for circulating. We learn how to scrub and circulate in each service. It has been a great experience, and I still am going through orientation!

[PaulBaxter]

At my hospital they train all the new OR nurses to scrub and circulate. We have few scrub techs, but in my department, for instance, I think there are are only five scrubs and about twenty five nurses.

I'd be happy to PM you the name of the hospital if you like. We're a level 1 trauma hospital attached to a big university, if that appeals to you. We're also in a compact state. Currently they have a two year contract for new OR nurses if that's an issue for you.

[soopie]

I have entered my 25th year as an OR RN and when I started in the OR as a GN we were taught to circulate and scrub. Throughout my career I have always jumped at the chance to scrub and on several heart teams it was mandatory to perform both roles. As a travel OR RN for the last 5+ years there have been few opportunities to scrub and I greatly miss this aspect of OR nursing. Recently while on assignment at a very small facility the manager has asked me to oversee the scrub training of a new OR RN. I'm struggling to find written material or a syllabus to start this training in a methodical format. Please, does anyone have anything that they can share from their facilities that still train RN's to scrub.

[Froggybelly]

No, we have a 3 month internship following a 2-week hospital orientation. We are only taught to circulate, then are under contract for two years following training.

[Future_GA_nurse, CNA, EMT-B]

PaulBaxter, I'd be interested in knowing which hospital you currently work. I'm an employee in a level 1 and in a compact state, though not in nursing, but i'd be interested in knowing if the facility you're speaking of is the same. I'm a tech and interested in advancing to OR nursing

[birdie22]

Ive worked in a couple different ORs. One of them, none of the nurses scrubbed. ratio of staff was 50/50. Another one ratio was about 80 nurses/20 ST. So during orientation all nurses learned to scrub and we did so on a regular basis. At my current job, the ratio is more 50/50 but they still teach new OR nurses to scrub. I understand that its good to know the instruments, etc. but when the ratio of staff is 50/50, after orientation, the nurses loose the scrub skills they learned bc they never use them.

[NCres17]

I was just hired to a hospital in February as a new grad to the OR and they teach us to scrub and circulate. Though it is known that as nurses we will be circulating more they want us to be able to be able to do both when necessary. My hospital does employ a good amount of STs, I would say the mix is abut 40:60 ST to RNs. I also think having that skill makes me a better circulator as well. We have about a 8-9 month orientation and the first month was mostly shadowing and classroom time. I would definitely suggest looking for a hospital that will teach you both as it is very beneficial!

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Yes, limited. By limited I mean simple stuff since the orientation is very limited. It's basically geared to scrub hernias, lipomas, choles/appys and the like. A heart? Never