ICU vs OR - Advice Please

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I will be graduating in May and am trying to decide whether I want to work in the OR or ICU. I did an externship this summer in the OR and loved it, but couldn't get past the fact that the circulator seemed to do a lot of running, going for this, and going for that. On the other hand, I have been working as a Patient Care Tech on a surgical/trauma ICU unit, and while I am not crazy about all the running that a PCT does, it is a very interesting unit, and I have learned alot from the nurses I work with, and I have been told by one of the charge nurses that they would love to have me when I graduate. I will need to apply for a New Grad position right after the holidays, and am planning on "shadowing" a nurse on the ICU unit now so that I can get a different perspective - RN as opposed to PCT. I was wondering what thoughts anyone has that they would like to share.

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Specializes in Neurology, Neurosurgerical & Trauma ICU.

I've never done OR, but my best friend was an OR nurse...so based on her experiences, I can tell you that they are two VERY different areas!!! OR nursing is sooooo much different than ICU (or others too) nursing! As she often put it..."this is stuff we never learned in nursing school"....meaning the instruments and things like that. Also, the nurses role is very different there than it is in the ICU or even on a floor.

Take time to shadow both and see which you like best. Both can be very challenging and you'll learn a lot in either arena.

Best of luck to you! :)

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Do you like interacting with the patient? Do you like interacting with the family?

That is two immediate differences I see with between being in a unit and being in the OR.

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Specializes in Medical.

In Australia, or at least at my hospital (I have a bad habit of generalising!), graduates aren't allowed to work in specialty units. To be more clear - the wards they work on may be specialised, but they need at least twelve months before they can work in ED, OR, ICU etc. This is so they can get general experience first - hone time management and assessment skills, and consolidate theoretical knowledge with practice.

You never know where you'll end up, and having that general experience first helps broaden your options. It will also help you work out more precisely what aspects of nursing you love and loathe, so you can tailor your choice to that, before you have to make a larger commitment.

New grads I've worked with recently have found that their interests and preferences have changed markedly over the course of their graduate year, regardless of what kind of expereince they had prior to registration.

Good luck!

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I have decided from my clinicals that I do not want to work with more than one or two patients at a time. I originally took the PCT job in the ICU because critical care nursing was my original primary interest, and the reason I went to nursing school (2nd career after working as a legal assistant for 20 years). However, after experiencing the ICU, and then doing the OR externship this summer, I find like one just as much as the other! I have heard, however, that if I go into the OR, I will lose my nursing skills (the ones I have not yet had a chance to hone), so was thinking it may be best to go to the ICU first, and then, if I still want to later, I can pursue the OR. Again, any thoughts? Thanks all.

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You will not lose your skills you will develop DIFFERENT skills. It bothers me when people say that because there are so many skill sets out there and they all serve a purpose...

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It is hard to choose "where you want to work" but always remember if you try ICU and hate it, you can always go to the OR, and vice versa.

Personally I think the ICU would be more patient-interactive and more like "caring" for the patient. I think its more nursing whereas being an OR nurse would be more like you are the assistant to the surgery.

I once thought about being a scrub nurse, but after my ICU rotation I knew I felt my career would be more rewarding if I actually took care of the patient. Not that OR nursing is bad or anything, its just so different.

Do whatever you feel most strongly about! (I know...easier said than done!)

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As an update - I decided to go where the money is! Believe it or not, I will be working as a med/surg nurse for the first 18 months of my nursing career because the hospital I accepted a position at is offering me a $5,000 stipend, not to mention they will be paying back my student loans, and paying for me to earn my BSN (ADN-BSN program) on site at the hospital! Who knew? Anyway, after 18 months, I will be able to go through their critical care education class, and then it's on to the ICU. (But now I will have a strong basic nursing foundation to draw from, along with better organizational and prioritization skills.) Oh, yeah, did I mention I'll be working with my sister? How cool is that?:rolleyes:

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>Personally I think the ICU would be more patient-interactive and more like "caring" for the patient. I think its more nursing whereas being an OR nurse would be more like you are the assistant to the surgery.

I once thought about being a scrub nurse, but after my ICU rotation I knew I felt my career would be more rewarding if I actually took care of the patient. Not that OR nursing is bad or anything, its just so different. >

You may be pleasantly surprised to know how much nursing "care" you actually do for a patient in the OR.

http://www.aorn.org offers a wealth of knowledge about perioperative nursing including a great pamphlet on what the layperson / patient should know about the nurse caring for them in the OR.

I have had the pleasure of the most rewarding 30 years of my life as a perioperative nurse. I have no doubt that the care I provided was as important and interactive as the care the patient received anywhere else in the hospital.

Good luck with your career choice.

P.

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I'm biased because I'm working in the ICU, and since you already have the interest that's where I encourage you to go. Not saying that OR isn't a good place to be but it seems to me that the ICU is more interesting because there's more "nursing action" going on there than in the OR.

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You do realize that you will be working with way more than one or two patients in med-surg, don't you?

I have decided from my clinicals that I do not want to work with more than one or two patients at a time. .
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