Ortho floor nursing job?

allnurses Guide · Jan 30, 2018

Ortho floor - you see surgical patients and trauma patients. Lots of pain meds being given. Wound care. Spinal and hip precautions. Spine patients tend to have been heavy opioid users prior to surgery, so pain and anxiety control can be a challenge. You are also caring for all the conditions folks who need ortho treatment come in with, such as CHF, DMII, withdrawal, dementia, renal failure etc etc etc etc.... It can be a good experience if the floor is a tight knit team. If nobody helps one another it can be miserable. Pretty much the same as any other nursing floor within the parameters of whatever specialty it is, to be honest.

If you get a lot of trauma patients it can be a good step toward ER or Trauma ICU. If it is mostly postop hips, knees and elective spines, not so much.

Sour Lemon · Jan 30, 2018

When I worked in ortho, it was mostly hip fractures and knee replacements. There was was a lot of heavy lifting. Fresh post ops rolled in throughout the night and we had lots of quick discharges, sometimes even the same day as surgery. We rarely had trauma cases, just a few here and there. Acuity was sky high. It was definitely my toughest job so far.!

COBSN16 · Jan 31, 2018

Thank you guys! It's a hard decision.. managers seem pretty great, hospital seems great, but not sure ortho is quite right.

ksm23 · Jan 31, 2018

I worked on an orthopedic med/surg floor for six years. Within the last two years we became strictly orthopedic. I was happy enough on the floor. It was a face paced environment. You had to learn how to multitask and deal with many different professionals (doctors, nurses, discharge planning, PT/OT, NP's, social work). The job eventually became somewhat boring to me due to its repetitive nature. I enjoyed that the floor was fast paced, but that also put unnecessary stress on the staff (more and more surgeries with no where for patients to go, putting stress on staff to discharge). I might get 6 patients in the am, discharge them all, and then admit six more patients. All without axillary help. There is also a lot of heavy lifting involved. A large portion of my shift was spent performing medial task such as toileting and filling water pitchers, that an aid could have performed. The patients also were a lot more needy then on other floors. They require alot of 1:1 attention, and narcotic administration. I currently have a PACU position, and happy for the change of pace. A lot of my coworkers have gotten jobs in the ICU and the ER and have done great. So I definitely think ortho has a lot to offer. I don't think you can really do it forever because of the amount of physical demand that occurs.

ksm23 · Jan 31, 2018

That being said, the job is rewarding. You see patients immediately progress. You get frequent flyers often, and develop a relationship. The patients are alert and oriented mostly, and remember their whole visit.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 1, 2018

I LOVE being an ortho nurse! Yes, the acuity is high, but I cannot tell you how much I have learned. You get patients with every comorbidity possible so it can be a challenge, as is the pain management.

We are about 50% joints and the rest is trauma, GSW, ortho oncology, amputations, we have top notch, ankle, shoulder, knee and hip surgeons. It is a large teaching hospital so we get lots of cases that other hospitals have given up on.

Our unit does do spines. They are on the neuro floor. When the post-ops go home, the weekends fill up with overflow gen med/surg so we get everything sickle cell, insulin drips, flu (everyone has flu pts).

I have been doing this about 6 years and I wouldn't want to do anything else. I am ortho certified. We work really closely with OT/PT and once you learn good body mechanics and how to move the pts safely (we have 6 different kinds of lifts), there is no more physical wear and tear than any other floor.

RockinNurse2018 · Feb 1, 2018

I would take it! I had an interview for an ortho floor that I would have loved an offer from, but didn't get. You would still be in the hospital, so that would give you an advantage over external applicants, especially those who have no acute care experience at all

Guest757854 · Feb 1, 2018

i worked ortho. it was a med/surg ortho floor . dit it for a year. at first i didnt like it...AT ALL. because i just wanst used to it. but eventually i came into my own there...and started to really like the job. i loved loved the hospital too!! the thing i hated most about working ortho...awas the orthopedic surgeons.......ther were a coupke that were cool...but alot of the others.... :no:

Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Feb 1, 2018

Ortho nurse here, I work full time and per diem at 2 different hospitals. My per diem is mixture of trauma and electives, my full time are mostly elective cases. Both are tele too, patients mostly stay 4 days max then are gone. Basically as mention already alot of heavy lifting, alot of Q3 narcotics, alot of dressing changes, vacs, cpm etc. Lots of discharges and admissions. Pretty cool specialty overall.