OR positions for new grads?

[NatashaFromOregon]

I was wondering how a nurse would start a career in OR nursing? Many of the job listing I have seen require CNOR credentialing and 3-5 years experience. How do you get your foot in the door? Just wondering.

[KayceeCA]

I was lucky because I knew that I wanted to do OR nursing early on, when I was still in nursing school. I got a job as a patient care tech in the OR while I was in school and that hospital hired me as soon as I graduated. Unfortunately that hospital had a very poor orientation program for new OR RNs, so I applied for a 6 month internship in the OR of a teaching hospital in the area. Other nurses in my internship class came from backgrounds ranging from long term care to med/surg to a research lab to ICU. We had all applied and were accepted based on our interest in, and enthusiasm for, OR nursing.

If there is a teaching hospital in your area, check to see if they have an orientation program for new OR nurses. If not, ask around and see if one hospital has a better reputation for training than other hospitals. I wish I had done that before I took the first position I took. It would've saved me a lot of stress.