Interested in OR nursing

[RN2k18]

I'm interested in pursuing a position in an OR residency when I graduate. I've shadowed on multiple occasions and love the environment. My personality fits well and I enjoy the work flow. I like being on the move and constantly having to monitor the situation and account for different senarios while anticipating the OR team's needs.

Where I live majority of the hospitals hire new grads for their OR residency programs. My question is for the RN, is the role of the circulating nurse pretty much all there is to do? Most hospitals around here have CSTs that set up and assist. My goal in my mind was to go into OR nursing, certify in it and eventually become a first assist but is that something that is not commonly done?

I've also heard from nurses in other specialties that I will rarely pass meds and my nursing skills will go to waste. So OR nurses what is your experience?

I'm interested in several different areas of nursing but I keep coming to OR and L&D as my top choices.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

is the role of the circulating nurse pretty much all there is to do? Most hospitals around here have CSTs that set up and assist. My goal in my mind was to go into OR nursing, certify in it and eventually become a first assist but is that something that is not commonly done?

This is something that will be very dependent on the facility. My facility is about 50/50 staffing mix with RNs and STs, with a smattering of RNFAs and CFAs. Very rarely do RNs scrub, unless they are on the cardiac team. However, another facility that I interviewed at was more 75% RNs and 25% STs with the expectation that all RNs scrub.

I've also heard from nurses in other specialties that I will rarely pass meds and my nursing skills will go to waste. So OR nurses what is your experience?

Well, you will rarely be giving meds directly to the patient. However, as a circulator you will be responsible for dispensing meds to the sterile field, so you'll still need to know proper medication administration. There are nursing skills that aren't used in the OR, but there are skills you will gain in the OR that other areas don't use. Also, if those nurses have never actually worked in the OR, they most likely don't know the full story of what we do.

I'm interested in several different areas of nursing but I keep coming to OR and L&D as my top choices.

Is it safe to assume that by your username, you'll be graduating in 2018 and thus haven't started your final semester? If you have a practicum and are able to provide input into where you are placed, then I would say go for these two areas as your #1 and #2 choices for placement.

So, check out some of the posts under the articles and FAQs tabs here in the OR forum. One of them that I started (I think it's the ask us anything thread) has several of us long term OR nurses who describe our typical day.

[WhoDatWhoDare, BSN, RN]

I've also heard from nurses in other specialties that I will rarely pass meds and my nursing skills will go to waste. So OR nurses what is your experience?

My response to the person who told you that your nursing skills will go to waste is that while it's true that you likely won't pass many meds or use the same nursing skills daily as a floor nurse, I certainly use my nursing judgment, critical thinking, and a different set of nursing skills in the OR. I still have to assess my patient when I see them, I have to know their labs to better anticipate the needs intraoperatively so our patient can rejoin their family after the case. I have a working relationship with anesthesiologists and surgeons that is collaborative, and I enjoy what I do. I agree that nursing school doesn't teach you how to be an RN in the OR, but you are taught skills, pathology, and anatomy that are used in the OR daily. Don't fall into the false belief that OR nursing isn't nursing... it's a different kind of nursing. Ultimately, some people thrive in it, others falter and go back to the floor.