OR Nursing at Metro Health, St. Mary's, or Spectrum Health Grand Rapids

[Jane1117]

Hi all!

I am a recent BSN graduate and either very much dislike the particular unit I work on or just realized that I dislike floor nursing in general. I have enjoyed my OR shadows (particularly ortho surgeries) and have decided I would like to go into perioperative nursing. My only questions is, for you Grand Rapids OR nurses (or even nurses in general), which hospital do you work for and what do you like and dislike about where you work?

I currently work for Spectrum Health but am considering looking for employment at St. Mary's or Metro if I can get an OR position. I think Spectrum has great benefits and their pay is competitive but the unit I am currently on feels grossly understaffed and is extremely stressful to work on. I am very frustrated because I got a second bachelors degree to pursue nursing because I thought it was my passion but my first RN job has made me question whether going back to school to be a nurse was a mistake.

Thank you all for your input!

[RUmedic]

I have a friend who is a CCRN at Spectrum downdown GR. She's been saying for a long time how understaffed Spectrum is. She used to work at ICU at Metro before moving to Spectrum. It sounds like the nurse to patient ratio might be skewed, which explains the stress and burnout.

I doubt though that you would have less stress at St. Mary's as it was and still is a very busy hospital right next to the getto area. My mother had her cholecystectomy at this hospital a number of years ago and I didn't like how the hospital handled it. However, this is subjective and your mileage might vary.

I think being RN is generally stressful, but it is interesting and rewarding work for someone with the right mindset. Bedside nursing is not for everyone. I never thought I would enjoy working at Med/Surg unit but I actually did while doing my remedial clinical practice. There's a lot to learn about nursing diagnosis, and many different conditions. Besides, most med/surg patients are quite stable and that presents far fewer situations with coding and other unpredictable stuff.

If you want less stress and more freedom, consider something like IV Team (or Infusion Team) specialty. All these guys do is go around the hospital floors and put IV's, midlines, or PICC lines depending on skill certifications level. There is a certification for it and that is called CRNI (certified registered nurse infusions).

I don't know much about OR but it sounds like you need to be a scrub nurse and I believe there is a certification for that as well.

Lastly, if you feel that bedside nursing is not for you, Spectrum will pay for your continued education. You can get Master's degree and move into hospital management. That's good money and no direct interaction with patients. I doubt St. Mary's has as much money to pay its nurses for certifications or master's degree as Spectrum does.