medsurg/tele rn going for OR...any advice?

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Anyone transferred from medsurg/tele to the OR? How was the transition like? Did u like it? The reason is because im sick and tired of medsurg/tele unit and wants somethin different for a change. I want to be able to go to work and dont feel like so beat up physomesically and mentally. I spoke with someone from OR and he seems to like it. And he actually have time to take brea.ks and lunch. Can u believe that? Not happening in my unit

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Specializes in hospice, HH, LTC, ER,OR.

Nurses get lunch breaks??

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

OR nursing sounds appealing to me. One patient at a time. Great.

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Specializes in Dialysis. OR, cardiac tell, homecare case managem.

keep dreaming about those breaks they are rare even in OR. yes one patient at a time but you also have a whole staff to attend to surgeons, anesthesia, assists, techs, students and you are the gopher. not saying it is bad just pointing out what they may not tell you and the biggest thing is everything that goes wrong in the room is the RN's fault. there is also call, those 20 hour shifts. fun , fun , fun. and yes you are also the personal secretary for the surgeon and get to make all the fun phone calls and answer patients, also do not forget to duck when you see an instrument flying in your direction.

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Specializes in Dialysis. OR, cardiac tell, homecare case managem.

that should be answer pagers. OR is an interesting place to work. It is fast paced most of the time and can be exciting, I just wanted to point out it is not as easy as some think. It has its issues. I will tell you the first thing that was told to me in OR. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY. PRETEND YOU ARE WEARING A RAINCOAT AND LET IT ALL DRIP OFF. WHAT HAPPENS IN THE OR STAYS IN THE OR..

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

Yes its a different world, but worth it if youre willing to hang in there. A well run OR will USUALLY have lunch breaks during the day. Sometimes when things are well staffed, you may float from room to room. You may have call after youve already been there 12 hours and have to be back in @ 7am. But as others say, dont let one patient at a time fool you. Youll still be plenty busy juggling several tasks, charting & charting and supply fetching for the rest team. Dont forget the pager answering......oh, an definitely duck when an instrument comes towards your way. If youre willing to try the OR, it may be rewarding in ways you havent known.

Ask about the orientation program and see if you think its the right fit. Ive been on the floor for 2 years now, and theres some days I long for the controlled chaos that is the OR.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
keep dreaming about those breaks they are rare even in OR. yes one patient at a time but you also have a whole staff to attend to surgeons, anesthesia, assists, techs, students and you are the gopher. not saying it is bad just pointing out what they may not tell you and the biggest thing is everything that goes wrong in the room is the RN's fault. there is also call, those 20 hour shifts. fun , fun , fun. and yes you are also the personal secretary for the surgeon and get to make all the fun phone calls and answer patients, also do not forget to duck when you see an instrument flying in your direction.

Oh, this is so not true. :rolleyes:I have never had a surgeon throw an instrument at me and if one did, there would be hell to pay. That may have been acceptable years ago- not anymore.

And we get our breaks and meal breaks 98% of the time. On the very rare occasion we don't, we punch out "no meal" and we get paid for it.

Any circulator worth his/her salt will always have the stones to tell the surgeon that the pager and cell phone need to wait. Some places even make the doctors leave the cell phone/pagers at the main desk.

Call is an awesome way to make good money- if you don't want it, there is almost always someone willing to take it from you. Give me call any day over having to work every other weekend and holiday. I get a weekend call about every six-7 weeks. Not bad at all.

I think it's very telling that once people work the OR, they rarely leave. The teamwork and camaraderie can be great if you have a good group of people. Most of the surgeons treat you respectfully because they know we can make or break their schedule for the day.

I have worked in small community hospital ORs and large trauma center ORs and I love the OR. You couldn't pay me to work the floors.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
Nurses get lunch breaks??

Nurses should always get lunch breaks. The reason why hospitals get away with not giving them is that you have the Martyr Marys in the nursing profession still.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I am not an OR nurse, but those OR nurses at my hospital always takes luch breaks in the cafeteria,

whereas, us floor nurses are expected to eat lunch on the floor. Addition to that, Our lunches always get inerrupted by numerous things. pt. requests, pain med, equipment beeping, dr's order,,,, etc, etc,,,,

I often have an urge to distroy my work phone; step on it to pieces, dump it in the trash can or flush it in the toilet, or something!

Having a full lunch break without interruption sounds very attractive...

Go for it!!!

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Specializes in PCCN.

Ive always wondered why its ok for or nurses to get lunches and floor nurses to not get them. I guess its also apples and oranges, but seems to me since floor nurses are expected to answer their pagers andcll lights for 8 different pts all day,and or nurses only deal with doc s and one pt at a time. that it must be awesome to be an or nurse- id duck instruments anyday to not be forced to take such rediculous patient /family loads.seriously- why is it that a floor nurse is to drop everything they're doing to answer that call light withing 30 seconds so as to not get written up? but the or nurse would never have that horse sh**t. Its a mazing anyone is a floor nurse at all. OP if you have the opportunity to go to OR go for it- Im jealous!!!! best wishes to you.

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Specializes in Dialysis. OR, cardiac tell, homecare case managem.

Oh, this is so not true. :rolleyes:I have never had a surgeon throw an instrument at me and if one did, there would be hell to pay. That may have been acceptable years ago- not anymore.

IT DID HAPPEN, I WAS THERE, ALMOST HIT HIS PARTNER IN THE EYE, MD WAS WRITTEN UP DEALT WITH, IF YOU HAVE A PERFECT OR WHERE YOU ARE THEN GOOD FOR YOU, BUT IT IS NOT ALWAYS A WELL RUN PLACE. IF YOU LOVE IT THAT IS AWESOME, THERE IS ALSO ALOT OF BACKSTABBING AND GAMEPLAYING . AS THE CIRC RN YOU ARE THE ADVOCATE FOR THE PATIENT. 1ST THE PATIENT COULD HAVE BEEN HURT, STERILE FIELD COMPROMISED, STAFF COULD HAVE BEEN HURT AND ON IT GOES. AND NO WE DID NOT TAKE OUR BREAKS IN THE CAFETERIA BECAUSE WE ALWAYS WOULD GET CALLED BACK FOR SOME REASON. MOSTLY WE WERE SHORT STAFFED BUT WHO ISN'T THESE DAYS? JUST TRYING TO SHOW BOTH SIDES. YES OR CAN BE REWARDIING BUT IT CAN ALSO BE A PLACE OF HELL IF THE STRONGER PERSONALITIES DO NOT LIKE YOU. OR CAN BE GREAT BUT IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST SAYING

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Specializes in Operating Room.
Oh, this is so not true. :rolleyes:I have never had a surgeon throw an instrument at me and if one did, there would be hell to pay. That may have been acceptable years ago- not anymore.

IT DID HAPPEN, I WAS THERE, ALMOST HIT HIS PARTNER IN THE EYE, MD WAS WRITTEN UP DEALT WITH, IF YOU HAVE A PERFECT OR WHERE YOU ARE THEN GOOD FOR YOU, BUT IT IS NOT ALWAYS A WELL RUN PLACE. IF YOU LOVE IT THAT IS AWESOME, THERE IS ALSO ALOT OF BACKSTABBING AND GAMEPLAYING . AS THE CIRC RN YOU ARE THE ADVOCATE FOR THE PATIENT. 1ST THE PATIENT COULD HAVE BEEN HURT, STERILE FIELD COMPROMISED, STAFF COULD HAVE BEEN HURT AND ON IT GOES. AND NO WE DID NOT TAKE OUR BREAKS IN THE CAFETERIA BECAUSE WE ALWAYS WOULD GET CALLED BACK FOR SOME REASON. MOSTLY WE WERE SHORT STAFFED BUT WHO ISN'T THESE DAYS? JUST TRYING TO SHOW BOTH SIDES. YES OR CAN BE REWARDIING BUT IT CAN ALSO BE A PLACE OF HELL IF THE STRONGER PERSONALITIES DO NOT LIKE YOU. OR CAN BE GREAT BUT IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST SAYING

Just a friendly reminder that all caps is considered shouting on the Internet. :)

There is backstabbing and game playing in all of nursing. Secondly, I wasn't saying I didn't believe you about the thrown instrument. I do take issue with you presenting it as an all the time occurrence. It's not- not by a long shot. And the doc in your situation was written up.

Your OR sounds like it was an anomaly. In most ORs, staff gets at least a meal break, and often gets a meal break and a regular break. I've been in the OR 10 years(both as surgical tech and RN) and have worked in more than OR. In all of them, we got our breaks.

My OR is not perfect. But, I take issue with you making it out to be the pits of hell because of your bad experience. No, the OR isn't for everyone. You have to be a strong person who doesn't take things personally, and who can stick up for themselves. You have to be proactive in working out your issues. You have to be willing to take criticism but yet, not be a doormat.

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