How well do OR skills transfer?

[wannabecnl]

I'm trying to select an immersion specialty for my last year of nursing school, and I'm very interested in the OR. I've read on various boards here that nursing school doesn't prepare you too well for the OR, but I am wondering about the reverse. If I do the OR and later want to switch to something else, how hard would that be? Are the skills from the OR applicable across the board, or is it as unique an animal as it seems to me now? And what would the process be--do you just quit one job and look for one in the other field or do you need training of some sort? Do you have to start over as if you were brand new, or does your experience come with you?

My understanding of nursing is that the skills overlap enough that lateral transfers are possible and common. I'm not looking for an "easy out" specialty; I just don't want to have my knees give out or get tired of going to work at the crack of dawn and then find that I've painted myself into a corner. Thanks!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

There are some skills that can transfer such as sterile technique, foley insertions, things that are required in almost any nursing unit. You also learn to be a very good patient advocate, as the patient cannot speak for themself once under anesthesia. You also learn how to deal with strong personalities, as it seems the OR attracts plenty of those.

However, there are some skills that won't be needed elsewhere. You won't use the knowledge of surgical instruments, types of suture, how to assist a surgeon, things that are only applicable to a patient in surgery. There's also a lot of dealing with technology that won't be used on the floor- laparoscopic equipment that requires troubleshooting, various lasers, imaging equipment.

There are also skills you won't learn in the OR, such as managing more than one patient at a time (unless you count the surgeon as a patient- sometimes they can be very needy). Usually you also aren't starting IVs, which doesn't matter in my facility anyway since only ER, ICU, and IV team start them. Once started, you won't really be dealing with the IVs or drips, as that usually falls under anesthesia's domain.

Truly, OR nursing is very unique. Take a few days to shadow if you can, or go ahead and use it for your immersion specialty to get an idea of if you really like it. OR nursing is definitely not an "easy out" specialty. You'll be on your knees plugging in cords, on your feet for hours scrubbed with the surgeon taking an entire shift to do an operation, dealing with rapidly changing situations/traumas/codes, and no two days will ever be the same.