What do OR Nurses do when they're not in surgery?

[emily_ganshert]

I'm sorry if I sound naive, but are you only at work when you have a surgery to assist, or how does that work? Please help!! Thanks in advance!

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

We work a shift like any nurse, 8/10/12 hours. We can either circulate a case or scrub(not all OR nurses scrub however). There is pretty much always surgery going on..elective or trauma. I work evenings so sometimes we finish our cases..we then set up rooms for the next day.We are always available to do surgery though because you never know when an emergency is coming.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Same with us, although if the schedule is really light, some people can choose to go home early as long as they aren't working late shifts (10&12 hour folks). I work second shift, and lately we've had a bit of downtime, but we have to be available for that appy or perfed bowel or trauma.