Leaving the OR

Sorry to hear that. Not everyone fits into the specialty they were hired into right after nursing school, myself included. I think it's completely ok to dislike some nursing specialties and work towards a change.

Where are you located? I'm begging to get into the OR but haven't had any success. What do you dislike about it?

Which I agree with. I've decided to give it a try because it's a good opportunity and a chance to broaden my skill set. On the contrary I am a planner so if i end up not enjoying it I wanted to know what units would take a nurse with only OR experience or if there is truly a stigma against OR nurses?

ER is pretty chaotic and stressful. Be ready for that.

I worked in both. OR was more like working a production line, but at least it was a lot more organized and expectations were predictable.

That's not the case in an ER. It's more like you're working in a war zone and anything can happen at any given moment. Very unpredictable.

10 hours ago, Tpax said:

I am a new graduate RN who got an opportunity to work in the OR via a year long orientation. I had always thought the OR was interesting but I was orginally interested in the ED. I decided to go to the OR because I thought it would be a great chance to learn something new and exciting as I grow as a RN. On the contrary alot of my other new graduate friends think going into the OR is a bad idea because I will lose the skills we learned in school and I will have trouble leaving the OR if I want to.

OMG! Anytime anyone uses this illogical thought process I think really have no idea what skills actually are. It really bothers me when people use this excuse to either disuade someone from trying something new, or because of their fear of change or doing something different.

You stated you are a new grad, therefore you do not have any skills to lose, only skills to gain. The same will hold true when you want to look for a new job, you will never lose skills, only gain skills.

It sounds like you were interested in OR, that is great, learn all of those new skills, help you grow, and become an RN. Every unit is different in skills and tasks that one must learn.

Truly, you are not going to lose any skill you learned in nursing school. Every place you will go or unit /speciality you would change to would have an orientation period to teach you the new skills.

Do not let those that tell you anything about losing skills disuade you from persuing something you want. Skills are never lost, only gained.

Thank you!

15 hours ago, Tpax said:

I am a new graduate RN who got an opportunity to work in the OR via a year long orientation. I had always thought the OR was interesting but I was orginally interested in the ED. I decided to go to the OR because I thought it would be a great chance to learn something new and exciting as I grow as a RN. On the contrary alot of my other new graduate friends think going into the OR is a bad idea because I will lose the skills we learned in school and I will have trouble leaving the OR if I want to. I was hoping someone could share their thoughts on this, I have been very stressed that I made a bad decision. I would also like to know if anyone had transferred out of the OR and what units would be more accepting of a OR nurse. I would appreciate any feedback thank you.

I'm sorry, but I had to laugh at that little nugget. ?

20 hours ago, Crash_Cart said:

ER is pretty chaotic and stressful. Be ready for that.

I worked in both. OR was more like working a production line, but at least it was a lot more organized and expectations were predictable.

That's not the case in an ER. It's more like you're working in a war zone and anything can happen at any given moment. Very unpredictable.

I was an EMT-B during school and I could see that outside looking in. There were times I dropped off a pt to the ER and that was one of the few pt in the entire department. There were other times that pt's were milling about outside, with several on cots lining the halls. In clinicals I met an RN in the ER who said during his busiest shift he was responsible for 11 pt in the ER! I fully understand how you can get busy in the ER when you say it's unpredictable.

You don't seem to mention how much you are liking the job you have now. If you are satisfied with your work, gain some valuable skills and don't feel like you are missing out on anything.

When I was in med-surg I applied for OR because I wanted to be in a place where I worked with one patient at a time, had no family members around giving me grief, and no call bells.

I worked in the OR of a level one trauma center/teaching hospital for 3.5 years after I graduated nursing school. Never did a day of OR in clinicals but wanted full time work, and they paid for my training and certification, and gave me an extensive orientation for 5-6 months (I was very fortunate). I loved the OR and did neurosurgery, ENT, and dental primarily but scrubbed and circulated in all areas, except scrubbing in cardiothoracic. I worked in Ontario, Canada and we did not have scrub techs. Then, I relocated to Michigan when my now husband finished college at the time, and applied to a level one trauma center/teaching facility here. I actually interviewed for the OR and the ER on the same day in the facility. I always had an interest in ER and thought since I was relocating, now was as good a time as any to jump ship. I also had the vague idea of going back and doing my FNP so I figured ER would give me a nice knowledge base going back to school.

When I transitioned to ER, I had a 14 week orientation and many of the "skills" I was worried about losing came back quickly, and my educator was kind enough to offer to shadow me for a shift and just spent 12 hours doing IV starts and lab draws. It was a different mindset for sure - controlled chaos in the OR verses "poop hitting the fan" chaos in the ED but I have enjoyed both and thought both were very valuable in different ways. Of note, I was the first OR nurse my ER had hired in over ten years and the manager warned me it would be difficult. I, like an idiot, said "challenge accepted," and never looked back.

You can leave the OR if you want later on, there will probably be a learning curve (but that's expected switching into any specialty). Don't turn down an opportunity you might enjoy because of other people's opinions. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "OR is not like regular nursing" I'd be able to retire. Keep up with continuing education opportunities and follow ER related nursing updates and best practice guidelines if you choose to transition out down the line. Good luck to you!!