new grad in ambulatory surgery center? what do you think

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I'm a new grad and was offered a position at a private ambulatory care surgery center specializing in ophthalmology. I was told that I would be trained in pre-op/op/post-op. I'm afraid that it's too specialized and that I will end up losing the nursing skills that I went to school for. It's so hard for new grads to find a hospital job nowadays (which is where I really want to be). Will taking this position limit me from moving on to somewhere else after I get my experience? Any suggestions, comments? Thanks

Specializes in US Army.

A couple of great resources for the OR environment are: AORN - Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (This is where you will find the AORN standards) and OutpatientSurgery.net - from the publishers of Outpatient Surgery Magazine (Lots of ASC info, very business oriented). Congrats on the job :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Don't worry about being "thrown" into the OR. If I recall, this is a one-specialty clinic (eyes). Therefore, the traditional 9-12 month OR training would definitely not be necessary. You can learn specialty procedures very quickly because (1) they tend not to be as invasive as oh, say, your average lap chole, and (2) because you do the same thing over and over.

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Hi, I am going in for an interview at an eye surgery center tomorrow and I was curious as to how you like it so far? Would you mind sharing a little about what you do and how your day goes?

Thanks!

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Hi Everyone! So an update to the job.. It has been a week already and I've learned a lot in terms of paperwork, medications, inserting IVs ...etc. I'm a bit worried to be thrown in the OR after 1-2 weeks training (which my boss was implying). I'm a new grad and know nothing about ASC and I'm a bit worried about such short informal training.

Other than that, I'm glad I found a job!

Hello! Im a pre-nursing student and am interested in the ophthalmology field. Im really glad I came across this thread :)

I was wondering if you can give me an update on your current job in ophthalmology... would love to hear anything you have to say:) Ive been researching online and it seems like ophthalmic nurses dont get paid as well as regular RNs. Is that true?? I hope thats not the case for everyone :( Welcoming any responses ! Thanks alot

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