OR Circulator, job hunting???

[dez_455]

hello all!

i've been an OR circulator for just a little over 2 years. My prior experience was 8 years of ER nursing. I've become very frustrated with our dept being severely understaffed and I feel underpaid. We have 13 operating rooms. I'm starting to look around at other hospitals to see what they pay. My commute now is 30 min and some of the bigger hospitals in the area would put me at an hour each way. I live in southern IN. I'd appreciate any input on pay ranges. We just received a 3% raise for everyone and if you weren't at the new base pay, they raised everyone to that. If you were already within the new parameters then you did not receive any additional compensation. Now we have new grads making what 5-10yr experienced nurses are making and it's causing some problems. We are currently 8 nurses short and in mandatory overtime with no additional compensation other than time and a half for over 40hrs.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Have you considered stand alone surgery centers such as plastic surgery or eye surgery? No call, no weekends, no holidays.

I circulate in a private OR that specializes in elective plastic surgery. I'm sure there are similar setups in IN.

[dez_455]

that sounds great. i'll have to check into that

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Come to the northeast! A lot of the hospitals are offering hiring bonuses for OR nurses and are desperate enough to offer training programs for nurses without any OR experience. The pay is awesome in MA, although the cost of living is also very high.

Annie