OR nurse to something new

[JapRN]

I’m curious if other nurses opinions. I’m an OR nurse, have been for 3 years. Due to my husbands government job we move around a lot. I’ve never had a problem getting a new position before. We are moving to Baltimore, MD area within the year and I’m curious what else is out there besides operating room. I don’t want to make a bad decision and have career suicide if we happen to move again.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

OR nurses often have a hard time changing specialties. You will need to have a very good resume, cover letter and hopefully some connections to get your foot in the door and then a very good orientation period. Have some idea of what you want to do and then take a look at your skill set and how to phrase your skills in a way that helps a manager get past your specific OR status.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Moving from the OR to another unit will be challenging, but it is doable. I’ve worked with several nurses who came into the OR as new grads and later transferred to inpatient units.

You do have some challenges: you wouldn’t be an internal transfer with a known history with an employer, and you will need to speak up and advocate for yourself to get an adequate orientation. Essentially, they should know that your orientation would be more similar to a new grad than to an experienced nurse.

However, you also have something going for you: experienced OR nurses tend to be a bit of a hot commodity. Granted, I’m not in the Baltimore metro area (but within driving distance with a break), but my area would be rolling out the red carpet for an OR nurse who wouldn’t need a 6 month orientation. So I would think you’d have that as a backup plan.