Lose Nursing Skills??

[trepinCT]

I am going to graduate from an ASN program this May (2009) and I loved my OR rotation!! I am 40 years old, worked as a CNA for 16 years, 5 of them in an OR, and I am not sure what to say to nurses(esp. instructors) when they tell me to do a year of med/surg and not to go straight to OR because I will lose my skills..UGH! That aggravates me. What I say now is , If I went straight to OR and a fellow student goes to med/surg for 1 year and she joins me next year and we both do 5 years in OR, then decided to both go to med/surg, I say that we are in same boat and she doesnt have that much more advantage over me..?? Besides I am not necessarily losing skills, I am gaining skills because:banghead: nursing school has been focused on medical units, not specialties...any input?

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I agree with talking to your director to see if you can get directly into the OR. They will probably make and exception for you since you have already been in the OR for 5 years as a CNA. You actually GAIN skills in the OR because you are introduced to so many different things-you will be able to read the anesthesia monitor, understand different mechanisms of the drugs we use in the OR and know INTIMATELY the anatomy and physiology of the body. I say GO FOR IT! Good luck:)