OR Internship. Need your Advice!!

NeuroICURN · Sep 16, 2004

Ari....

I posted a reply under your other posting about this...please take some time to read it and REALLY consider it.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 16, 2004

Very few places will ever guarantee you a job. An employer will never want to keep you on staff if you are incompetant, lazy, etc. They almost always reserve the right to terminate your employment if "things don't work out."

If the institution has a reasonably steady need for new OR nurses (and they probably do or they wouldn't be offering this course) ... they will hire you if you make a positive impression on them as you complete the course. That's roughly the equivalent of any orientation program. Most places have a "90-day probationary period" or something similar that basically says, "We are going to try this out for a while ... and if you do well, we will keep you. If you don't do well, we will let you go."

So, I wouldn't worry about the lack of a guarantee. That's par for the course. If you do a good job while you are taking the course, they will probably keep you around. If you don't do a good job -- they wouldn't have kept you around even if you had been offered a regular position since the beginning.

Very few jobs come with absolute guarantees. If it is the training you want -- get the training. You will then have additional skills to seek employment at that particular hospital and at a wide variety of other hospitals.

llg

ShirleyM · Sep 26, 2004

Ari,

Did you interview anywhere else? In Dallas, the hospitals that offer O.R nurse internships run their programs anywhere from 4-9 mos long with a combination of classroom and clinical training. Of course, it's in the internship where you have prove yourself not lazy, competent, open to instruction, etc...If you're constantly slacking off they'll let you go. Where I work they've had the O.R nurse internship for 7yrs and they've only let one intern go. After the internship you're usually on a 12-24 mos long contract where you work for them full-time.

In your post you made it sound like they may not give you a position even if you successfully complete the internship. That doesn't sound right because the purpose of the internship is to add more employees to the roster. If you pass the internship there's no reason for them not to hire you.

Today I interviewed for a Peri-Operative nurse intern program. It's a 4 month program combining classroom and clinical training. I've always wanted to become an OR Nurse but am having a difficult time deciding whether I should take it or not.

-Firstly there a tuition charge of more than $1,000 which will be reimbursed after working at that facility for 1 year.

-Secondly, you are not guaranteed a job after the training is over. (This is what's killing me!!! )

You see I'm not happy about not being guaranteed a job. What should I do?

Thanks to all that reply!!!!!