Late career switch to OR nurse?

Specialties Operating Room

Published

I need some honest advice. I'm considering a late in life career switch to OR Nursing and I'm trying to decide if I'm just being crazy. I'm an RN who moved into physician practice administration almost 20 years ago. I have a lot of experience working with surgeons, but usually around a conference table talking case volumes, block schedule utilization and how to justify their latest OR toy request ?. I took a break from work when covid hit - single mom with a school-aged kid at home - and during that time I decided that I don't want to manage large departments anymore. So I started to reconnect with my inner nurse and have been very fixated on OR nursing. I think I would enjoy the challenge of learning a whole new clinical specialty. I really enjoy surgeons, even the ones who can be politely described as difficult. The team aspect of the work is really appealing. Early on in my career I worked in a few ambulatory procedure areas and I quite enjoyed it. The question is, will anyone even consider me at this point? I feel a bit like a new nurse grad, except that with years of management skills I bring a lot more to the table. My local hospital hires new nurses into a periop internship program two times a year. The next one isn't until Jan, so I have time to burnish up my credentials. I'm taking an RN refresher course now (55 contact hours) which has been really helpful. I'll be working this Summer as a camp nurse - it worked with my daughter's Summer schedule. I plan on getting some part-time or per diem RN work in the fall once she is back in school - hopefully in a procedural area if possible. And I'll see if I can work my connections to get some OR shadowing opportunities before I apply for the periop internship. So - am I nuts?

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Def shadow and build connections. THE OR IS ONE OF THE ONLY UNITS IN THE HOSPITAL THAT TAKES RNs REGARDLESS OF EXPERIENCE. I worked as a nursing assistant/ and now a nurse in the OR for more than 2 years now and have seen this first hand. The OR isn't like the ICU which I have seen to judge nurses heavily based on their past. It's a whole different type of nursing so its foreign to most because nothing in school teaches you it. If you're big into teamwork and don't things personally the OR management will love that. If you have any more questions message me. 

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Specializes in OR.

What have you got to lose if you don't try?

You are not nuts.

Edited to add.

I am also a single mom of a 10 year old girl and just be warned, the schedule can be brutal. Make sure you have excellent sitters available or your child's father (my ex is not involved so I've pretty much had to find her a second family but they are amazing). Can be long hours with call.

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Specializes in Surgical First Assist - CVOR and L1 Trauma.

@RNandMBA- I loved reading your post. The Operating Room is definitely 'a calling' and we need more nurses in our rooms who have a passion for this very specialized type of nursing! As a relatively new First Assist (who started in the OR after getting my BSN), I couldn't see myself in any other area of nursing.

I had my daughter very early (right after undergrad) and have had to juggle the joys / trials of being a new mother, while trying to be the best OR nurse possible. While I could have worked at an ASC or smaller community hospital, I chose to work on the cardiac team at a tier-1 institution. The cases are long, the mistakes are unforgiving, and excellence is the standard (not the aspiration). All that being said, I hope that my daughter sees her mother as a strong woman with limitless potential in the service of others.

As a First Assist and preceptor now, I love onboarding new OR Nurses who are in our OR Nursing Residency program, are switching from other units, or who are coming back to nursing after being out of it for years.  In all cases, it is such a joy to share my passion and to watch them learn.  Some decide it's not for them, but the vast majority see the opportunities (both from a career and patient impact sense) and decide it's 'their calling'.

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Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.
On 4/24/2021 at 5:01 PM, RNandMBA said:

I need some honest advice. I'm considering a late in life career switch to OR Nursing and I'm trying to decide if I'm just being crazy. I'm an RN who moved into physician practice administration almost 20 years ago. I have a lot of experience working with surgeons, but usually around a conference table talking case volumes, block schedule utilization and how to justify their latest OR toy request ?. I took a break from work when covid hit - single mom with a school-aged kid at home - and during that time I decided that I don't want to manage large departments anymore. So I started to reconnect with my inner nurse and have been very fixated on OR nursing. I think I would enjoy the challenge of learning a whole new clinical specialty. I really enjoy surgeons, even the ones who can be politely described as difficult. The team aspect of the work is really appealing. Early on in my career I worked in a few ambulatory procedure areas and I quite enjoyed it. The question is, will anyone even consider me at this point? I feel a bit like a new nurse grad, except that with years of management skills I bring a lot more to the table. My local hospital hires new nurses into a periop internship program two times a year. The next one isn't until Jan, so I have time to burnish up my credentials. I'm taking an RN refresher course now (55 contact hours) which has been really helpful. I'll be working this Summer as a camp nurse - it worked with my daughter's Summer schedule. I plan on getting some part-time or per diem RN work in the fall once she is back in school - hopefully in a procedural area if possible. And I'll see if I can work my connections to get some OR shadowing opportunities before I apply for the periop internship. So - am I nuts?

No you are not nuts at all. I did ICU nursing then ED/Trauma nursing and then 19 years of helicopter flight nursing before deciding to enter the Preoperative nursing specialty. I definitely made the right choice and enjoy the team approach to caring for our patients in the OR as both a scrub RN (80% of the time) and as a circulator in neurosurgery. I love the challenge of new /different types of patients each case and learning new surgical approaches etc. I work in an academic hospital and LOVE learning with our residents and fellows from our great attending. I also enjoy precepting new nurses when they join our neurosurgery team (24+ RN's now) . Definitely go for it and get into a good PeriOP 101 program and nurse residency program. RoseQueen has posted some really beneficial pointers and great advice on this specialty track as well that you will benefit from reading. Best of luck.

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