New to the operating room!

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Specializes in Operating Room, LTAC.

Hello!

I have accepted an internship in the OR. I am so excited. I graduated May 2012 and have been working as a RN for 8 months. I start in June and cannot wait. I am so ready for this learning curve :-)

I would appreciate any tips/advice. I also would like to hear from anyone in my shoes, in the process and anyone wanting to get into the OR.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Operating room, Pediatrics.

Congrats! I'm 3 weeks into an OR fellowship program (it's basically Periop 101) and am loving it. There is SO much to learn though! Get yourself some spiral-bound note cards so that you can take notes as you go (especially since surgeons might like to use different things for different procedures that their preference cards won't reflect!). Also try to set yourself goals each week as to what you want to accomplish, e.g. "This week I will become comfortable with positioning my patients" etc. That's all I can think of for now since I'm still a newbie myself but I hope that helps! Oh, and until you're comfortable moving around the sterile field, stay away from anything blue! LOL

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Specializes in Operating Room, LTAC.

Thanks so much for the tips and Congrats as well! I will definitely keep your tips in mind. And do you have any recommended resources? I have Pocket guide for the perioperative nurse. But I haven't started reading it yet, so I probably should. And I know that you've only been in your fellowship for 3 weeks and everything is still new. But, what would say your biggest challenge is? Pros/cons?

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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Hello!

I have accepted an internship in the OR. I am so excited. I graduated May 2012 and have been working as a RN for 8 months. I start in June and cannot wait. I am so ready for this learning curve :-)

I would appreciate any tips/advice. I also would like to hear from anyone in my shoes, in the process and anyone wanting to get into the OR.

Thanks!

I took pictures of how the equipment was set up (ie: beach chair). Ask as many questions as you need to understand what's going on. Also, when the sched for the next day came out I would find out which room i was going to be in and make copies of the dr's pref card and review them so I was prepared in the morning to just hit the ground running. Also, be mindful of your scrub techs. They can be your best ally or worst enemy. I prefer for them to be my ally! I respect what they do and really try to help them as much as I can and I've learned that through doing this they help me and we respect each other. You really will learn a lot from the techs bc they are right up there w/ the surgeons. I love my scrub techs and I'm so grateful that many of them are very dedicated, intelligent and hard working.

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I took pictures of how the equipment was set up (ie: beach chair). Ask as many questions as you need to understand what's going on. Also, when the sched for the next day came out I would find out which room i was going to be in and make copies of the dr's pref card and review them so I was prepared in the morning to just hit the ground running. Also, be mindful of your scrub techs. They can be your best ally or worst enemy. I prefer for them to be my ally! I respect what they do and really try to help them as much as I can and I've learned that through doing this they help me and we respect each other. You really will learn a lot from the techs bc they are right up there w/ the surgeons. I love my scrub techs and I'm so grateful that many of them are very dedicated, intelligent and hard working.

I'm a scrub and I totally agree with that statement. Especially if we have been working with the surgeon for years. We have had some new nurses (and I said some, not all) that come in with the mentality that they are better than us because they are the nurse and we are just the scrub. Be sweet to your scrub or you may find yourself being sent out of the room to find an Otis Elevator;)

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I'm a scrub and I totally agree with that statement. Especially if we have been working with the surgeon for years. We have had some new nurses (and I said some, not all) that come in with the mentality that they are better than us because they are the nurse and we are just the scrub. Be sweet to your scrub or you may find yourself being sent out of the room to find an Otis Elevator;)

I know for a fact that a good scrub tech can make your day smooth or tough! I have a lot of respect for what they do. Scrubs have actually taught me a great deal about the OR. If you respect them, they will do the same.

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Specializes in Operating Room, LTAC.

The Otis elevator, haha.. Thanks so much all of you! I will definitely respect and be sweet to everyone. I'm am so looking forward to starting. Thanks again for the advice everyone.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I'm a scrub and I totally agree with that statement. Especially if we have been working with the surgeon for years. We have had some new nurses (and I said some, not all) that come in with the mentality that they are better than us because they are the nurse and we are just the scrub. Be sweet to your scrub or you may find yourself being sent out of the room to find an Otis Elevator;)

Don't forget the Eustachian tube!

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Don't forget the Eustachian tube!

Ha ha! That's a good one too!

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Specializes in Operating room, Pediatrics.
Thanks so much for the tips and Congrats as well! I will definitely keep your tips in mind. And do you have any recommended resources? I have Pocket guide for the perioperative nurse. But I haven't started reading it yet, so I probably should. And I know that you've only been in your fellowship for 3 weeks and everything is still new. But, what would say your biggest challenge is? Pros/cons?

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

I had to buy Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery as part of my Periop 101 class. I have not yet picked up the pocket guide yet but plan on it. Right now my biggest challenge is trying to develop my "OR ear." There's a lot of white noise in the OR, plus with everyone wearing masks it can be hard to hear the scrub or the surgeon ask you to get something so I always find myself saying "huh?" LOL. I'm thankful to have gone through this fellowship because it's helping to give me a strong foundation for what I need to know as a circulator (learning basic instruments and sutures can make your head spin!) based on the AORN standard. Some pros of my fellowship are that we practice opening sterile items, gowning and gloving, etc in the classroom setting so you don't feel completely useless at clinical and focusing on one patient at a time is great. Some cons would be not knowing where in the heck everything is, being assigned to a different service and preceptor every day (this may not be the case for you, but in the institution where I'm doing my clinical and will end up working at I will work in all the services except heart because they're specialized), and becoming familiar with the supplies and instruments needed for each procedure. Obviously none of this stuff is something you can learn overnight that's why I said try to set yourself goals to work on each week!

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Specializes in Operating Room, LTAC.

I really really do like the idea of setting goals; I've been working on a list already. Thanks so much for everything and good luck!

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I had to buy Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery as part of my Periop 101 class. I have not yet picked up the pocket guide yet but plan on it. Right now my biggest challenge is trying to develop my "OR ear." There's a lot of white noise in the OR, plus with everyone wearing masks it can be hard to hear the scrub or the surgeon ask you to get something so I always find myself saying "huh?" LOL. I'm thankful to have gone through this fellowship because it's helping to give me a strong foundation for what I need to know as a circulator (learning basic instruments and sutures can make your head spin!) based on the AORN standard. Some pros of my fellowship are that we practice opening sterile items, gowning and gloving, etc in the classroom setting so you don't feel completely useless at clinical and focusing on one patient at a time is great. Some cons would be not knowing where in the heck everything is, being assigned to a different service and preceptor every day (this may not be the case for you, but in the institution where I'm doing my clinical and will end up working at I will work in all the services except heart because they're specialized), and becoming familiar with the supplies and instruments needed for each procedure. Obviously none of this stuff is something you can learn overnight that's why I said try to set yourself goals to work on each week!

Don't forget to add hoods. They add a whole new level of hearing difficulty:). I'm a scrub and have been working with the same doctor for five years and he mumbles really bad. When we have new fellows start every year, I have to do a lot of translating!!

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