I have OR experience, but in outpatient surgery and a very specific specialty... HELP

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I am a scrub nurse at an outpatient surgery center on vascular accesses. I scrub in with the doctor and assist in procedures, however, we only do 6 procedures that are very specific to just vascular access surgeries. I also assist with circulating during the procedures. Does this put me at a disadvantage on finding jobs? That I only have experience in a very specific specialty, as well as it being an outpatient surgery center?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and I am planning on traveling when I have 18 mos of experience, but I am still worried that my very specific specialty will transfer as nothing.

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Specializes in Operating room..

Well, most travel jobs want 2 years experience. Yes, that will hurt you when trying to get a travel job. However, some OR's are so desperate that ANY experience is fine for them. But as far as traveling goes they want someone that can at least circulate ortho, gyne, cysto, etc. Ortho is a specialty unto itself. Good luck though!

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Wow, I'd like your job! Talk about low stress! By the way, you identify yourself as a scrub nurse that assists circulating. That is a highly unusual description. Are you an RN?

No, even if you find a facility willing to hire you as a traveler, you wouldn't be able to do any but the easiest of cases. My hospital orientation was 9 months and third person the entire time. I could probably get someone comfortable in your role in one week (although really getting a new scrub fully conversant and ingrained with good sterile technique really takes longer). In a travel assignment I could do anything from urology, to setting up a fracture table for a specific repair, to back surgery, to a AAA. I can float to a GI lab or scrub an open heart (well, that is a specialty that wouldn't be expected of most OR travelers). Even "easy" vascular or general cases would still be immensely difficult for you. I can't even imagine the staff or manager that would put up with your ability for more than a day or two.

If you want to be a traveler, the best thing you can do for your career is go work at a full teaching hospital for several years to obtain a certain level of knowledge, competency, experience, and confidence first.

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Thank you for the advise. Definitely appears to be the route I need to take.

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