New Graduate Offered Position in OR w/Concerns

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Specializes in Surgery.

Hello,

I will be graduating from nursing school as an RN in June of this year. I have been offered a position in our local hospital's OR. I'm extremely excited about the opportunity and fully intend on accepting the offer. As a freshman I went to the OR for an observational and absolutely loved the experience. So I feel that I would enjoy my job. However, I do have some concerns. I don't know that I want to work OR and nothing else for the rest of my life. I've read that once you join OR that people rarely leave. Why is that? Is it because they love the environment and the work so much that they have no desire to leave? Or is it because once you've worked in the OR it's difficult to get hired elsewhere? Also, I'm concerned that I will not have many opportunities to practice my learned skills working a position in the OR. Will this be the case? Will I not need many of the skills that I have learned in nursing school while working in the OR? I don't want to lose valuable skills that would be beneficial to me in other areas of nursing. I really want this opportunity but I don't want to corner myself in to one area. If you could help answer some of these questions I would greatly appreciate the input! Thanks! :)

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I don't know that I want to work OR and nothing else for the rest of my life.

You'll change your mind once you start working and get comfortable.

I've read that once you join OR that people rarely leave. Why is that?

It's the best!

Is it because they love the environment and the work so much that they have no desire to leave?

Love it!

Or is it because once you've worked in the OR it's difficult to get hired elsewhere?

Not at all and I wouldn't want to go anywhere else. The OR has been the most rewarding and challenging so far.

Also, I'm concerned that I will not have many opportunities to practice my learned skills working a position in the OR. Will this be the case? Will I not need many of the skills that I have learned in nursing school while working in the OR?

You will use the skills you've learned and ones you don't yet have. Give it a chance and you will see how lucky you are to have this opportunity as a new grad. Good luck to you.

Search through the many posts in this section and you will come across a lot of valuable information from others who have posted on the skills and duties you will learn in the OR.

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Specializes in Surgery.

I appreciate you taking the time to answer all my questions. You have eased all of my concerns. Thank you!

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I've been in the OR for 5 years. I worked as a nurse on the med-surg floor for 5 years. I have seen may new grads come to the OR and not do well and end up leaving. I think that any new grad should spend at least one year working in med-surg. You will develop your skills, learn organization, and you will appreicate the OR after having to work on the med-surg floors. I love the OR and would never leave. But I believe I'm a better OR nurse because of my time in the med-surg area.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
I've been in the OR for 5 years. I worked as a nurse on the med-surg floor for 5 years. I have seen may new grads come to the OR and not do well and end up leaving. I think that any new grad should spend at least one year working in med-surg. You will develop your skills, learn organization, and you will appreicate the OR after having to work on the med-surg floors. I love the OR and would never leave. But I believe I'm a better OR nurse because of my time in the med-surg area.

Now see, I've seen the opposite. the previous floor nurses seemed to have the worst time acclimating to the OR, they had bad habits that carried over, or had a attitude of "knowing it all". The new grads are more moldable and seem to catch on quicker..it's gotten to the point where if I have the choice between training the nurse who came from med/surg or the new grad, I'm going to pick the new grad.

Plus, often it's hard to get to the OR after spending time on the floors. Many supervisors do not want to lose a floor nurse, whereas the OR has always prided itself on "growing its own". I was a surg tech for years, went to NS, went straight to the OR and would never consider going to the floors(unless it was ICU). Why would anyone want to leave? One patient at a time, most days you get your breaks and lunch, and you get to scrub in sometimes, which rocks!:yeah:The med/surg first idea is fast becoming obsolete, and this is good, IMO.

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Specializes in O.R. Nursing - ENT, CTC, Vasc..

I am a new grad who went straight to the OR. I haven't been there long enough to really know the job, and in fact I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment - I am now in my 4th week of being in "orientation" in the OR. I will be in "orientation" for 6 to 9 months.

What I already love, though, is that there is a huge learning curve and everyone I work with tells me I won't feel comfortable for 8 months to a year (sometimes longer) but that is normal. Everyone felt like I did once, and that they all felt like they never set foot in nursing school because they felt so stupid! The "overwhelmed" feeling is normal. And I am not rushed to learn things. Some skills I learned in nursing school that I use here are drawing up meds, sometimes giving IMs or SQs, some assessment, inserting foleys, patient positioning, patient transferring, giving report, and charting. Sometimes some of the circulators or holding nurses put in IVs but I haven't had to yet. Usually the CRNAs or anesthesiologists do it, or floor nurses for inpatients.

My managers tell me that there are advantages in being an experienced med/surg nurse coming to the OR. But almost everyone in my department is happy when they hear I'm brand-new and not experienced, plus, they tell me that you can take a med/surg nurse and put her in the OR and it will be totally different with at least 6 to 8 months of training, but you can take an OR nurse and put her in med/surg and she will pick up on it a lot more quickly. So if for some reason I want to be in med/surg some day, I am sure I will have no problems passing meds, charting, assessing, positioning, transferring, etc. I might have to work on juggling multiple patients and giving meds on time :)

Oh and having weekends and evenings off, and lunch breaks, isn't bad either :) I haven't taken call yet, but right now, our staff is on call one weekend day once every 4 weeks, and works 2 holidays a year (on call). Something like that. We have a separate, dedicated call team who is on call after 6pm weekdays. And I can work 3 12's or 4 10's after I'm out of orientation (or sooner).

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Hi whitedm83,

Are you feeling comfortable in the OR yet? Looks like its been some time since you started!

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

Hello OP! Wow, I am excited for you that you were offered one of the best jobs in nursing! The OR is a fast paced, ever evolving and tightly knit environment.

I came to the OR after med/surg and PACU experience. I have been glad on a number of occasions that I had the experience of floor nursing under my belt as I made the transition to the OR. The organizational skills alone that I learned on the floor helped me a great deal while learning to be an efficient OR nurse. However, I don't think that a new grad is at a disadvantage by coming straight to the OR. One of our strongest nurses came to us right from school, has been with us for only a year and she is top-notch.

I have been in the OR now for several years and wouldn't dream of doing anything else. It is brain candy for me. I love the technical aspect of doing my job precisely and with vigilance to the sterility required. It took about a year for me to feel completely comfortable in the OR because there are so many things you must learn and remember. A good nurse educator and a patient preceptor made my transition a good one.

While you may not use EVERY assessment tool that you learned in school, you will be introduced to new ones in the OR. Positioning for surgery requires an intimate knowledge of nerves that are compromised in specific procedures. You must also learn about sterility and various ways that tools and instruments must be sterilized. You will use critical thinking skills in determining the best outcome for your patient during surgery. You will learn how to prepare effectively in order to keep cases moving along in a manner which is timely, yet safe for your patient. If you are not already an assertive person, you will become one while working in the OR. You must be a vocal patient advocate because YOU ARE the voice of the patient during the intraoperative phase. You will learn up close and personal the anatomy of the body and will see it in full color! The anesthesiologists for the most part are welcome to any questions that you have and will teach you the mechanisms of various drugs/gasses/infusions should you be curious. In all my years of OR experience, only one surgeon has told me that he is not "handing out free education" when I inquired about a technique that I was unfamiliar with...most surgeons LOVE to explain to curious nurses like myself what they are doing and why. I have even learned how to read MRIs from our surgeons.

I think the thing I love most about the OR is that you are focused on ONE patient at a time. Yes, you are also focused on making sure that the surgeons have what they want, you must work as a team (scrub tech, circulating nurse), and you must communicate with the anesthesia team in order to have congruency for each case.

I sincerely hope that you consider carefully and thoughtfully this offer of employment to the OR. There are wonderful aspects of working in the OR. It is a different beast for sure, but one that I have found to be exciting and rewarding in many areas.

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Specializes in Vent patients, OR.

Wow, that was a spectacular response! I start my new OR job on Monday..been out of school for a year, working on a kind of subacute vent unit, LTC, and also still at my previous healthcare job, so this is the first "real live, full time" RN position for me. I am so excited! I loved OR and ICU before and throughout school, but OR is giving me the chance, so here I go. I think it is a good fit for my personality and what I do and do not like about nursing. The OR staff and surgeon where I currently work agree. :yeah:The position and the facility open up a world of possibilities to me. I can really envision myself there (and never leaving!), I was impressed with the supervisor who interviewed me, who really seemed to embody what I think management/supervision should be. I am thrilled to be going, scared at times, but not so scared as to back down. :D

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I enjoyed reading this thread, I am a new grad (just graduated this December) and will be starting my first RN job in the OR in February!! I am so excited and can't wait. Pick the OR it is awesome!! :D

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Specializes in Cath Lab/ ICU.
I've been in the OR for 5 years. I worked as a nurse on the med-surg floor for 5 years. I have seen may new grads come to the OR and not do well and end up leaving. I think that any new grad should spend at least one year working in med-surg. You will develop your skills, learn organization, and you will appreicate the OR after having to work on the med-surg floors. I love the OR and would never leave. But I believe I'm a better OR nurse because of my time in the med-surg area.

I've seen many, many MORE new grads come to medsurg and leave than any other field. Any expeience that we have as nurses makes us a better nurse, this is true. But medsurg should not be mandatory for any field.

The med/surg first idea is fast becoming obsolete, and this is good, IMO.

Absolutely. 100% agree. Medsurg experience is only vital for...well, medsurg! Otherwise, it isn't necessary for any other field.

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GREAT thread, everyone!!

It's been a while since anyone has posted but, I am interviewing for a new grad OR position and was wondering if anyone had any pointers specific to the OR??

Im very excited!!

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