What Do I Do Now???

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2006

HI....My advice would be, if you want to work in a hospital, I would stay away from sub acute. I mean, If you wanted to both while you are doing the refresher, thats fine, but I wouldnt count on that 6 months as experience when going for a job in a hospital, know what I mean? I say get the refresher, work med surg for a little while, then try for the OR again. Good Luck!!!

peddler · Aug 23, 2006

Refresher training as a nurse to work in the OR? My background before i went to the OR was cardiac critical care and ER. I can say without hesitation that i do not use any of the skills i spent years obtaining and honing. In the OR I don't assess pts, I'm no longer the go-to drug expert, we don't do any pt care, and I no longer even own a cardilogy III.

Making you hone your nursing skills for a job in the OR is just busy work that won't beneift you as an OR nurse. I say practice saying nice things in the mirror. That will help you with happy thoughts when "smart people" talk down to you all day in the room. Surgeons and residents think nurses are idiots to begin with. Don't curse them out or throw a punch and provide them fodder. Smile and nod....smile and nod. Remember, you'll have a 7-3 Mon thru Fri job and be home nights and weekends. That's what it's all about and that why it's so worth it to be in the OR.

Reapply to every OR in the county is my advice and don't tell anyone you failed your boards. That matters not. Having a license is what matters.

olivedrab · Aug 26, 2006

Surgeons and residents think nurses are idiots to begin with. Don't curse them out or throw a punch and provide them fodder. Smile and nod....smile and nod.

is this true??? has this actually happened??? the violence, i mean..... :eek:

Dom's mom · Sep 13, 2006

it sounds like you have some of the concerns that I have. I graduate in Aug 07 and I love the OR and have strongly considered working there. its a toss up btwn that and ER. Anywayz my RN friends keep telling me that i will lose my skills if I stay in the OR. That i don't want. I have small children 2 yrs old and 7 mths old and i would like to be around for them. Any advice on how not to lose skills and still do what I love along with being around for my kids. Anyone have any thoughts?

Dom's mom:rolleyes:

ortess1971 · Sep 13, 2006

In my OR, we most certainly assess patients. The job is not for those who aren't self motivated though. If you think OR nursing is just doing paperwork and getting supplies, then that will make you into a bad OR nurse. You have to love surgery and take an interest in what you are doing. Actually, at our morning staff meeting, there were complaints that the floor nurses were sending down patients for surgery whose electrolytes were in abnormal ranges. It was the OR nurses picking up on those abnormal electrolytes by the way. The OR is different, don't get me wrong, but you most certainly do use nursing skills. I have to assess my patients skin(proper positioning is vital) HGB and other lab values, do pre-op patient teaching and use plenty of the therapeutic communication skills I learned. I also assist with intubation and advocate for that patient, I love the OR, and am very proud of what I do. You may not use all the same skills as a floor nurse, but you gain many other skills in return. The docs I work with don't treat nurses like idiots either, for the most part..I'm sure there are 1 or 2 that get treated like that, but trust me, I can see why!