OR vs ICU nursing

[Jordym919]

I am in my last semester of my nursing program and will be graduating this upcoming May, which means it is almost time to find a nursing job! I currently work in an ICU as an aide and have for the past 3 years, and right now I am doing my preceptorship for school in the OR for 5 weeks, both departments have specialty programs for new graduates open to apply for, so I am looking for any words of advice about starting out in either of these specialties? My ultimate goal is to become a travel nurse after I get a few years of experience, I also realize starting out in a specialty can be challenging, however having worked in critical care for the past few years, I have found that I really love it. The OR is a little newer to me and I enjoy the environment from my experience so far, I just worry that if I started in the OR, especially as a new graduate, I would lose a lot of skills like critical thinking, assessment, medications, etc. I also think it could get pretty repetitive, correct me if I am wrong, and if I did decide to start in the OR and after a couple of years decided to go to ICU would that be extremely difficult? So again any opinions or words of advice would be greatly appreciated! :)

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Where you depends on what your long term goals are. My advice is to get some med/surg experience before you go into any specialty. This will allow you to develop your critical thinking & basic nursing skills. I have worked with OR nurses with little med/surg experience and they all had some issues because of the lack of a foundation in nursing skills. Another reason what sounds good to you in school might not be once you start working. If you go to the OR right away you will lose most of the few skills you have learned in school and depending where you are living could pigeon hole you to the OR.

[Jordym919]

That is what I am afraid of, thank you for your feedback!

[brownbook]

I completely agree with jeckrn. But IMHO OR skill are more specialized and therefore in more demand than med/surg or even ICU skills. It is hard to get your foot into the OR door without prior experience.

if your dream is to be a travel nurse I would post your question under the travel nurse specialties. And even just look at adds for travel nurses, find out what areas of nursing seem to be in the most demand for travelers.

[Jordym919]

Thank you I will try doing that! The fact that it is hard to get your foot into an OR door is what is holding me up, but on the other hand it would also be a little more difficult to go from OR to ICU if I decided to do that a couple of years down the road, both are very specialized just in different aspects. That is what makes it hard.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

If you are looking to travel eventually ICU is the way to go. ICU is in demand across the board in my area and across the US as well. The OR travel positions I see are mostly for Cardiovacular OR RNs. OR to ICU is a very hard transition. Medsurg, telmetry, or ER is easier. New grads in ICU sometimes do better with the transition than nurses with experience. If you have the head and emotional fortitude for the ICU and you think you would like it then go for it.

[Jordym919]

Thank you! I really think I am going to go for the ICU route :) I have worked in an ICU as an aide for a little over 3 years now and I do love it!

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

The travel travel positions I always see are for OR located in northern CA or the northeast in general. Like a PP suggested, post this question under travel with specifics of desired outcome and see what you get. I'm with you though, Jordy, as far as doing ICU, I don't know if I'd like OR. My mom did it 48 yrs and loved. Me, didn't like the rotation in school. ICU can open other doors if you ever change your mind. Think CRNA, ACNP, etc