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Discussion

LPN and OR Tech

I decided not to VS the question because they really do have different responsibilities. I would like to work in the OR...and I read that if you were an LPN for a year you can test for the OR Tech exam?... is that true?

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    • Featured Replies

    Highly doubt it.in

    Depends on where you are though.

    In Canada, the OR Tech is a post grad course for LPNs. It involves roughly 3 months of online study, learning the set up of the trays and duties for scrub and circulator and then a 52/54 shift practical placement in an OR with a preceptor.

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    • Admin

    Depends on the job description of the OR tech. We don't use it where I work; we have OR assistants who basically function as PCAs and surgical techs, who function in the scrub role. Once upon a time, we did have a few LPNs working in the scrub role who had been around long enough to have received on the job training. Because of surgical tech schools, no hospitals in my area offer on the job training to LPNs wanting to scrub. The only role LPNs fulfill in my surgical department are in preop as the IV starters.

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    • Experts

    When I attended an RN completion program several years ago, one of my classmates was an LPN who worked as a scrub technician in the OR of a major hospital in Oklahoma City.

    She trained to become an LPN while serving in the US Army, and then received some on-the-job training to fulfill the scrub tech role.

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    • Author

    I apologize everyone...i meant a surgical tech...my bad.

    Thanks for everyones responses as well...i would like to be a lpn...but i really like the OR. i didnt want to be a surg ech because they are not in demand in my area :(

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    Ariana, in my area (central Florida), lpn's are definitely hired as scrub techs.

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    We hire LPN's as scrub techs at our hospital here in MN. Good luck! I did my practicum in surgery and it is a tough area, but awesome!

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    Fiona, I plan to eventually move to Canada. I just got my LPN in NJ. Any chance I might get a shot into the system? Or should I rather wait to obtain my RN, which might take another 12-18 mos?

    Thanks

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    I'm an LVN and work as the head scrub tech/nurse in an Ophthalmology O.R.. I love it!!! There is definitely a place for LVNs in any kind of O.R. in my opinion. I can float as well. I can work pre-op starting IVs, work in the O.R. as eye prep, scrub nurse, and also be in charge of all instrument care.

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    Is there a cert that anyone knows of that would help an LPN obtain the job of scrub tech?

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    I'm an LPN, who has workes on the med surg floor, but I was also a surg tech for many years . Wanted to try floor nursing. I hate it . Going back to the OR NEXT WEEK. I feel it's where I want to be

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