Help! Transition OR to floor

[nurserrv]

Please help me out. I've been in the OR for a bit over 2 years, went in as a new grad. I know so many people would never advise going from OR to the floor because apparently the OR is like heaven compared to the floor. But I still want to go. I don't like being the person to run for stuff, I feel like I don't really make a difference in patient care, and I have forgotten so much patho and disease process and that's what I hate the most. So I want to go to the floor, interact with the patients/family, orders, actually do head to toe assessments, be hands on. But I would be like a new grad again. Is there anything I can do to prepare myself if I really go through with this? Like go over labs, patho, drugs... any suggestions? Thanks! Also where do you think is a good floor to start on and why?

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

OR is its own beast entirely - I think, of all of the specialties involving direct patient contact, it is the zebra.

I would think the best choice would be a surgical floor that has post-op patients as this is most likely the floor with the common knowledge for you.

Have you ever considered PACU possibly? You do use a lot of assessment skills in PACU and you speak the OR language already.

[nurserrv]

Yes I agree with you on a post op floor. I did consider PACU but could not go since it is critical care and my only experience is in OR. The director wanted me to get other floor experience before trying PACU.