OR Nurse essentials?

[Venisse Mildred Pinque, BSN, RN]

I recently accepted an OR circulator position at an ASC as a new grad! what essentials should I get before my start date?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

1. A good pair of shoes dedicated to the OR - brand new, going to live at work in your locker (you're either going to be doing a lot of standing or a lot of walking or both). Maybe even two pairs so that you can rotate them.

2. A membership in AORN. That's our professional organization that sets our guidelines. Includes all CEs at no additional cost and the monthly Journal, which includes a monthly clinical issues column and a "back to basics"/"safety essentials" column that trade out every other month. Plus, you'll have access to The Stitch, which is a section/newsletter aimed at new to the OR nurses.

3. If the facility permits, fun cloth hats (just remember to launder after each wearing). It's a good way to distinguish yourself/show your personality in the sea of blue/green/whatever color scrubs. But keep it tasteful - I've seen a site that sells hats that would get me censored by the profanity filters here and definitely not work appropriate!

4. Pens. Charting is most likely electronic, but there will still be some things to write down. And having back ups for when the surgeon asks to "borrow" a pen and then conveniently it ends up in their pocket instead of returned to you, you still have a pen. I can't do the cheap, generic, not even retractable pens that the OR I work for stocks. Gotta have my good pen!

5. You will want to use those pens in your fabulous pocket sized notebook where you write yourself notes of important things: frequently used phone numbers, infrequently used processes that you don't want to forget in the heat of the moment, even some surgeon specific things. Although I'm no longer clinical and don't even work for the same hospital, my first pocket notebook is still... somewhere.... in my house.

[Venisse Mildred Pinque, BSN, RN]

Rose_Queen said:

1. A good pair of shoes dedicated to the OR - brand new, going to live at work in your locker (you're either going to be doing a lot of standing or a lot of walking or both). Maybe even two pairs so that you can rotate them.

 2. A membership in AORN. That's our professional organization that sets our guidelines. Includes all CEs at no additional cost and the monthly Journal, which includes a monthly clinical issues column and a "back to basics"/"safety essentials" column that trade out every other month. Plus, you'll have access to The Stitch, which is a section/newsletter aimed at new to the OR nurses.

 3. If the facility permits, fun cloth hats (just remember to launder after each wearing). It's a good way to distinguish yourself/show your personality in the sea of blue/green/whatever color scrubs. But keep it tasteful - I've seen a site that sells hats that would get me censored by the profanity filters here and definitely not work appropriate!

4. Pens. Charting is most likely electronic, but there will still be some things to write down. And having back ups for when the surgeon asks to "borrow" a pen and then conveniently it ends up in their pocket instead of returned to you, you still have a pen. I can't do the cheap, generic, not even retractable pens that the OR I work for stocks. Gotta have my good pen!

5. You will want to use those pens in your fabulous pocket sized notebook where you write yourself notes of important things: frequently used phone numbers, infrequently used processes that you don't want to forget in the heat of the moment, even some surgeon specific things. Although I'm no longer clinical and don't even work for the same hospital, my first pocket notebook is still... somewhere.... in my house.

Ahh thank you so much for this! what shoes would you recommend for the OR?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Venisse Mildred Pinque said:

what shoes would you recommend for the OR?

Ask 5 nurses this, and you'll probably get 10 different recommendations. A lot of people say Danskos. I cannot wear those without being in absolute agony, and thankfully the one pair I temporarily owned was a freebie left behind in the locker room by another nurse who couldn't wear them either. Others say Hokas and Calzuros - not cheap options at all. Others swear by their Crocs (just get the ones without holes). Others like athletic sneakers. And then you have those that swear by their cowboy boots. It may just take some trial and error to find what works for you.