Is it impossible to get in OR or what?

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I’ve been an inpatient psych nurse for the past almost 2 years since I passed my NCLEX. It is the only experience I have. I’ve decided to pursue different paths (even outpatient psych) now and have been considering transitioning to hospice or OR but wow it seems like getting in OR is impossible or something. Did you guys have the same problem getting into OR or is it because they just don’t take psych experience at all?

5 hours ago, bryan_del said:

Yes I was thinking that. It seems like other areas do have them but over here they are scarce.

I agree with RoseQueen. And you're specifically referencing basic supply and demand. With as many people interested or eligible who are in the LA area - yes, it seems scarce. In an area with fewer applicants, your chances may be better.

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Sometimes it is all about timing. At my last place they would only hire experienced nurses for the longest time. We could rarely get anyone and had no staff. As educator I had to continually explain that hiring new grads is better than not having any staff...and oh yeah all those piles of new grads begging for OR at the career fair last year, well they would be trained and on their own by now. They finally got it. We started taking nurses new to the OR fresh out of school and from random floors as well. Most of them did great! They now regularly hire ppl without OR.

I would just keep trying. Sometimes it takes a while. And network as much as possible. As much as it is unfair, I'd always pull resumes and interview the ones with a recommendation by someone I knew.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

You may need to relocate for an OR residency program. The great thing about an OR residency is that will take experienced nurses and new grads. I had 3 offers for as a new grad for the OR residency last year. The offers were in Utah and Washington. I started my research looking on indeed for the residency programs, then looking at the hospitals' main page. It was time consuming trying to find OR residency programs throughout the country but they are out there. Make sure to apply to places where they have a solid OR residency training that will set you up for success. Don't give up, keep on trying.

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On 4/24/2019 at 8:44 PM, bryan_del said:

I’ve been looking into both. What I’ve found is that even the residency programs out there, which are not much for some reason, demand acute care experience of at least one year or two and as I noted above I only have psych experience so I have not been able to get into any of the residency programs I’ve applied to. Which area did you manage to get into the OR residency and did you have acute care experience?

Speaking from experience as a new OR nurse...I got into this program specifically through working at a small, rural site; we don't have the resources to have OR nurses *just* do OR, so they're trained to do OR, recovery, presurgical screening clinic, and so on. Prior to this, I had acute care experience (med/surg) and community health experience. For larger centres, I suspect that it's not impossible, it's just harder and might require you to get some more acute care experience before making the transition into the OR.

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Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

The only OR experience I had was 2 months during my student nurse days in South Africa. Just got hired into my hospital's PeriOp 101 program and a position in neurosurgery as a scrub and circulator I'm at Stanford University Hospital. I was an ICU, ER and Flight nurse for 22yrs. I think you just have to find out which hospitals in LA offer the PeriOp 101 course as they usually either hire new grads with no experience or nurses with no OR experience (like myself). Good luck.

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Specializes in Psych/OR.
17 minutes ago, RickyRescueRN said:

The only OR experience I had was 2 months during my student nurse days in South Africa. Just got hired into my hospital's PeriOp 101 program and a position in neurosurgery as a scrub and circulator I'm at Stanford University Hospital. I was an ICU, ER and Flight nurse for 22yrs. I think you just have to find out which hospitals in LA offer the PeriOp 101 course as they usually either hire new grads with no experience or nurses with no OR experience (like myself). Good luck.

Thanks for the input. I will look into hospitals that offer that course

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I'm tired of psych and want try to get into an OR program too. If not I am going to work on completely getting out of nursing.

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On 4/24/2019 at 8:21 PM, FurBabyMom said:

Are you looking at community hospitals or large centers (ex academic centers)? Many big academic centers have OR training programs. Community hospitals may not want to or have the resources to train OR nurses with no prior OR experience.

I got into the OR by way of a training/residency program. There are a TON out there.

Yes - I would agree that the best way into the O.R. at a top institution is through a formal residency program offered by the hospital.

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Hi, I'm an experience OR RN who started off in the OR as a new grad in California - Los Angeles area. [Trying not to give my identity out to much] BUT YES, IT IS POSSIBLE! I know plenty in the LA, OC, and IE area who started as new grads or who was in a similar position like you.

Right now there is a shortage in OR Nurses, nationally. Many hospitals are opening Peri-op 101 programs and management is looking into how to recruit more OR RNs. They are expanding their net. This is especially true in Southern California! LA, OC, IE. I've seen big hospitals like UCLA open up Peri-op programs [Santa Monica location], Community Hospitals offering sign-on bonus and their own training program [these are not advertise and just a few spots], Surgical centers hiring new grads even [these are not advertise and just a few spots]. A lot of the RNs I know who went into the OR as a new grad or with previous (NON med surg, ICU, or ER) RN experience was through word of mouth or they spoke to someone, honestly. The OR community here in Southern California is highly connected. Get talking to other RNs who have connections to ORs or call/visit HR departments or get in front of the hiring managers. (They have AORN meetings in LA, OC, and IE chapters). I wish I can go into more detail with my personal experience and all the other OR RNs i know but this forum is so public.

Here is some advice/tips:

Try every hospital and facility, honestly. You never know where opportunities lie. My position was not advertised so don't rely on Indeed or Internet job postings. Talk to those that are in the OR or visit HR departments and facilities. You'll get more insight.

You need to WANT TO BE IN THE OR and let them know that. The Operating Room is a highly specialize department. It takes months and months of training and a lot of resources. Administration / Management / and Staff want to invest and train someone who will be there for the long haul and the OR is a hit or miss for people.

* Show how determine you are to becoming an OR Nurse [Management wants you to be SURE you want to be in the OR]

* Show them how your previous experience [2 years in Psych Nursing or any other experience] can transfer into the OR. You can reference back to your clinical or any pertinent experience. OR Nurses need to be detail oriented [You're multi-tasking, coordinating, supervising], great customer service [dealing with Surgical patients, Surgeons and Doctors], you need to be prudent and strong [Need to speak up if something isn't being done right], and a team player! [You're working along side many professions]

* You're an open minded learner, quick learner, and love to learn [You are a forever student being in the OR.. learning new things everyday]

The above may seem A LOT but honestly, If you're that determined to get into the OR and willing to do so, it is great practice to when you are finally in the OR. Get your foot in the door, do 2-3 years and you can write your ticket anywhere in California.. even the whole nation, to be honest.

GOOD LUCK! - Being in Surgery and seeing everything I see.. nothing is impossible.

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On 7/6/2019 at 7:09 PM, PositiveVibesRN said:

Hi, I'm an experience OR RN who started off in the OR as a new grad in California - Los Angeles area. [Trying not to give my identity out to much] BUT YES, IT IS POSSIBLE! I know plenty in the LA, OC, and IE area who started as new grads or who was in a similar position like you.

Right now there is a shortage in OR Nurses, nationally. Many hospitals are opening Peri-op 101 programs and management is looking into how to recruit more OR RNs. They are expanding their net. This is especially true in Southern California! LA, OC, IE. I've seen big hospitals like UCLA open up Peri-op programs [Santa Monica location], Community Hospitals offering sign-on bonus and their own training program [these are not advertise and just a few spots], Surgical centers hiring new grads even [these are not advertise and just a few spots]. A lot of the RNs I know who went into the OR as a new grad or with previous (NON med surg, ICU, or ER) RN experience was through word of mouth or they spoke to someone, honestly. The OR community here in Southern California is highly connected. Get talking to other RNs who have connections to ORs or call/visit HR departments or get in front of the hiring managers. (They have AORN meetings in LA, OC, and IE chapters). I wish I can go into more detail with my personal experience and all the other OR RNs i know but this forum is so public.

Here is some advice/tips:

Try every hospital and facility, honestly. You never know where opportunities lie. My position was not advertised so don't rely on Indeed or Internet job postings. Talk to those that are in the OR or visit HR departments and facilities. You'll get more insight.

You need to WANT TO BE IN THE OR and let them know that. The Operating Room is a highly specialize department. It takes months and months of training and a lot of resources. Administration / Management / and Staff want to invest and train someone who will be there for the long haul and the OR is a hit or miss for people.

* Show how determine you are to becoming an OR Nurse [Management wants you to be SURE you want to be in the OR]

* Show them how your previous experience [2 years in Psych Nursing or any other experience] can transfer into the OR. You can reference back to your clinical or any pertinent experience. OR Nurses need to be detail oriented [You're multi-tasking, coordinating, supervising], great customer service [dealing with Surgical patients, Surgeons and Doctors], you need to be prudent and strong [Need to speak up if something isn't being done right], and a team player! [You're working along side many professions]

* You're an open minded learner, quick learner, and love to learn [You are a forever student being in the OR.. learning new things everyday]

The above may seem A LOT but honestly, If you're that determined to get into the OR and willing to do so, it is great practice to when you are finally in the OR. Get your foot in the door, do 2-3 years and you can write your ticket anywhere in California.. even the whole nation, to be honest.

GOOD LUCK! - Being in Surgery and seeing everything I see.. nothing is impossible.

I work for an employer that would rather be super short staffed than hiring less than perfect nurses that fit in perfectly into customized molds that have vested administrators and board members; names on them. But that seems to be the case in California where switching specialties is impossible. Still waiting to get out of psych and the craphole state I am stuck in.

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