In PACU now and loving it....what a journey!

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Hello everyone! It's been a heck of a year so far starting with a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer in Jan.2007. Since then I've undergone surgery and chemo and everything that goes with that. I took 6 months off work during this time and when I returned to work in the outpatient surg. area I realized I couldn't see myself staying on much longer. It's sort of like "life REALLY is too short" so why not make that move I've been threatening to for a long time.

Well a position came up in the PACU and I jumped on it and have been there for about 1 month and I love it! My background in ER prepared me well for the fast pace and critical care aspects. My preceptor says I won't need much more time in orientation but I want to keep her as long as I can.

Well thanks for listening and I hope to learn all I can from this board.

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Hey thats great. Hope things continue to be good for you both in health and job.

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How great for you! Congratulations on your recovery! I too am a Breast Cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in Aug. of 2002. I had surgery, 6 months of chemo and about 7 wks. of radiation and I'm doing great now. I am in my second year of Nursing school and I just finished a clinical rotation in a Pediatric PACU and I loved it!

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How great for you! Congratulations on your recovery! I too am a Breast Cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in Aug. of 2002. I had surgery, 6 months of chemo and about 7 wks. of radiation and I'm doing great now. I am in my second year of Nursing school and I just finished a clinical rotation in a Pediatric PACU and I loved it!

Glad to see you're doing great! Good luck in your schooling and hurry up and graduate....we need you out here!

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Specializes in Med/surg.

I have worked in med/surg for 11 years of my entire nursing career. I'm ready for a less stressful area of nursing. My friend did suggest PACU. I also thought of case management. I would really love to work under a plastic surgeon and learn aesthetic types of procedures such as botox and fillers, but no hiring in this area at this time.

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Specializes in PACU.
I have worked in med/surg for 11 years of my entire nursing career. I'm ready for a less stressful area of nursing. My friend did suggest PACU. I also thought of case management. I would really love to work under a plastic surgeon and learn aesthetic types of procedures such as botox and fillers, but no hiring in this area at this time.

There is a different kind of stress than med/surg, but if you go to PACU don't think you will have a stress-free environment to work in. You need excellent airway management skills as well as some critical care skills. Most PACU's require nurses to take call and ours requires lots of call. Although having said this, I would not go anywhere else.

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