OR orientation questions

[Kingbandit]

Which services are new nurses oriented to in your facility? How long is the typical orientation? Does your facility orient to other shifts (evening, nights, weekends)? Are services/teams chosen or do new nurses get to pick. Are your teams picky about who they let in (hearts, eyes, robot)?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

6 weeks per specialty, except CTOR. They get assigned to a team, but typically float to all specialties. Separated into main, ortho, same day surg, and CTOR. Same day does 99% of ENT, eyes, little cases, and are their own unit. Ortho runs during day shift, and whatever is left goes to main. Main on days is pretty much stay in one room, same specialty in that room. Evenings is whatever comes in, you do it (except hearts). One week of evening orientation, one weekend orientation. Nights are a dedicated team.

[Kingbandit]

Thanks, I have been there 10 wks and I feel comfortable enough to move to off shift training. Each one of my service preceptor's have signed off, but the manager is making me stay in orientation for 6months. I just want to move on and be productive. The charge nurse uses me to relieve for lunches without a preceptor. I had to act contrite today during a trauma because the preceptor was new and she tried but I had to do most of the case, but I wanted a good review. I was a surg tech for 10yrs an ER rn for 6yrs, I can't count how many traumas I've done.

[Mr. & Mrs. RN]

12 weeks, or 3 months. We orient to everything but hearts and thoracic surgery. I can circ a robot, but they try to keep it to the specialized teams. We also don't do babies, but we have to know how in case they have more than 1 emergency c-section going at a time. Hearts have their own special team, but I can help open.

[NurseLumpia]

We first start w/ OR class of 3 days & 2 days didactic for 6 weeks, pass a test.

Then it is off to train w/ preceptors, first scrubbed then circulate for different specialties burns, peds, ENT etc...

Once the powers that be feel we have a good grasp (after 4-6 months) we then get precepted to Ortho, Neuro, and Robot. The reasoning is that they want our confidence built before going into these harder cases.

We aren't placed into teams per se, but each person is evaluated on how they do on each specialty if they are interested in it. Only CTOR has a team concept