OR Staff Nurse Interview

[firebirdnurse13]

Hello all! After 4 years in LTC, I am finally getting out of it and trying to get a position in the OR. I fell in love with the OR during nursing school and instead of following my passion, I took the easy route to a job when I graduated. Anyway, I had a phone interview with the OR recruiter on Friday and now I have an interview with the Nurse Manager of the Ortho/Trauma OR on Thursday with a major area hospital. The recruiter asked me all of the situational/behavioral questions you are always asked in an interview (tell about a situation when) and now I'm trying to prepare myself for Thursday's interview and not sure if there is anything specific I could brush up on to prepare. What have you been asked in an interview or if I brush up on my ortho/trauma knowledge should I be okay? ANY guidance you can give me would be of great help!!! Thank you!!!

[WhoDatWhoDare, BSN, RN]

Rose Queen has posted several threads here you should read and familiarize yourself with the circulator role before your interview. As long as they know you have no experience in the OR, it should be more about why you believe you belong in the OR and how your experience can be an asset. Make a list of questions you have about being in the OR and show them you have genuine desire to be an OR nurse and not just looking to get out of your current role.

Good luck.

[firebirdnurse13]

Thank you for the the tips!!! I had my interview two weeks ago after it got pushed a week because the Nurse Manager got pulled into the OR and did a job shadow day last week on Thursday. I had a list of questions that I asked in my interview, asked lots of questions during my job shadow, and tried to show my enthusiasm for OR nursing as much as I could. I did a f/u call on Monday and was told he was talking to the resource nurses that day and making a decision. It is now Wednesday and I haven't gotten a call either way. My nerves are killing me!!! Is it possible that I could have been too enthusiastic or that my experience is going against me? I noticed a trend that 3 out of 4 nurses I talked to went into the OR at this hospital as new grads and the Nurse Manager and Resource Nurses kept repeating about how OR nursing is a different kind of nursing and you use a different kind of skills.