I am tired of being an OR nurse....in need of career advice

[Chocolate39]

Hi everyone,

Any advice on coping with burn out from work? I don't know if this is temporary or if I need to apply for a different job and leave the OR. I have been an OR nurse for 16 months now and this is my first job out of nursing school.

Things I enjoy about my job:

• Observing amazing surgeries
  
• Being able to scrub
  
• Helping surgeons operate and solve problems during surgery
  
• Working with a team
  
• Great managers
  
• Great nurse co-workers
  
• My work schedule
  
• Not having to deal with family or rude patients
  

Things I don't enjoy:

• Working with rude surgeons
  
• Being a Circulator RN
  
• All of the heavy lifting and moving of heavy machinery
  
• Being pressured to have faster turn overs
  
• Feeling like a maid when I'm circulating
  
• Sometimes feeling ignored from the team as if my role is irrelevant when I'm circulating
  

I've thought about going back to school and becoming a nurse practitioner. Perhaps working as a RN first assist. I have also thought about taking an RN job in a dermatology practice and receive training on how to provide facial aesthetic injectable treatments.

I just don't know what career path is right for me. I want a well paying job without any of the stress, to help people/patients feel better, and not having to cater to any doctor.

[Davey Do]

Your method of dealing with your present situation is admirable, Chocolate. Putting out feelers and reporting a status along with processing the information by listing things you do and don't enjoy allows for examination and consideration.

IMHO, your situation doesn't sound like burn-out as much as it does a certain amount of comfort and complacency. Your enjoy list outweighs your don't enjoy list and your don't enjoy list basically focuses on your feelings. Feelings are not necessarily reality. Working in positive situations with positive managers and coworkers in your enjoy list are gold in this profession.

As far as wanting a well paying job without any of the stress, to help people/patients feel better and not having to cater to any doctor, good luck to you on that one!

[BlinkyPinky]

LO at the top of your list of negatives is " rude surgeons". Who would've thunk it

[verene, MSN]

From reading your list it sounds as thought you generally like your unit, coworkers, and management, but that you substantially enjoy scrubbing more than circulating. A well paying job with our any stress is unrealistic as all jobs (high paying or not) have some stress. It's more about finding the kind of stress you can live with, and about finding ways to mitigate the stress that does occur in your life.

I'm not super familiar with OR nursing so I'm not sure if it would be possible to work exclusively as a scrub RN (as you seem to enjoy that role), or what RN roles would allow for more of what you like in that position and less of what you dislike about the circulator role. Perhaps RN First assist would be a good fit for you? (I'm assuming that allows more of the surgical/procedure side and less of the circulating type duties.). Or maybe becoming a surgical PA?

[Nimble Nurse]

Some of the things you don't like are just a part of the machinery of the OR and they aren't going to change. So if you cannot change the heavy equipment, the "rude surgeons" etc the only option is to change your perspective and focus on what you do like. Also make a list of specialties you liked in nursing school and talk to nurses in those areas. Every speciatly of nursing has it's own pros and cons. The main thing is to develop a way to cope with the negative stuff (mindfulness, controlling your atitude and outlook, remembering you are there for the patients, etc) so you can enjoy your work without being unduly influenced by the things you cannot control or change. You are not going to be able to control every work place, it's up to you to take control of how you see things and if so, you'll learn you never have to cater to any doctor every because it's your own mindset and not the doctor.