perioperative nurses, do you like your job? (vent)

sharann, BSN, RN · Mar 17, 2004

I Do LOVE my job and then occasionally I dislike or hate it, but usually it is true love. The floor nurses all think my job is so hard while I think(know) that theirs is! I guess it depends. It sounds to me as if your friend(friend?) is a bit jealous Kyti, or maybe she is clueless about what we do. The ICU nurses think we are an all day holding area for their patients, and the OR think we do nothing but sit around while they do ALL the work(with their sleeping pt). Ok, no flames from OR here please, this is just true fo my hospital.

Great for you that you love your job! You are in good company baby!!! :)

kyti · Mar 17, 2004

Well I have calmed down a little now. This friend is not known for her tact. I love my job and I will just have to live with the fact that no one else at our hospital respects what I do. I respect what we do and know we do it well so that will have to be enough. Maybe if she ever has surgery and needs someone to comfort her and relieve her pain she will change her opinion. :)

orrnlori, RN · Mar 21, 2004

Oh, I'm an OR nurse and I don't think you guys sit around all day! I think you work hard! Our major PACU becomes a parking lot for ICU patients waiting for beds IN ADDITION to recovering our patients. I couldn't do your jobs, I hate fighting with a disoriented patient in the OR, or worse, one who's throwing up. I respect you guys every time I have to recover a patient in the OR because the PACU is backed up. You'll never hear this OR nurse say anything negative about you guys. I'm glad you're there!

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Mar 21, 2004

I think our PACU nurses work hard, but also they are dealing with the same thing over and over again with variations in what procedure was performed. Airway, pain control and hemostasis would be boring for me after, say, a year.

sharann, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2004

Well, I have only been in PACU 3 years and am never bored. It's the "not knowing" how the pt will wake up(like fighting tooth and nail or sobbing hysterially or at ALL), or if the airway will go out(or be pulled out by the pt), or if they will have a PE that we catch early ,or the frequent proposals of marraige(good drugs!). We rarely have cardiac and resp codes simultaneously, but it happenned on Thursday on a bowel resection. We get a "AAA" which turns out to be a ruptured Sigmoid........Then there are the transexuals that are discovered during the head to toe to @#$% assessment. I find it fun, thrilling and frightening on a daily basis.

p.s: I do not sit

LesJenRN · Mar 21, 2004

I think that many people just dont know what goes on behind those closed doors.... I work in ICU and I have lots of respect for PACU nurses. I think I'd be nervous there myself...

TMnurse · Mar 21, 2004

Hey, I was part of a team trasferring a patient to ICU from the OR. After things settled, one of the ICU nurses asked me "how can you work in an area that all you do is hand instruments to doctors." How do you even respond to that? Oh well, I let it go. When someone comes out with such a stupid statement I don't think it's work the battle.

poopsiebear · Mar 21, 2004

Please have respect for what I do. Pacu is a critical care area.

I have much respect for PACU nurses and I know it is a very challenging unit. I chose the OR because I love working there and I can tell you love working in the PACU also. It's unfortunate a lot of nurses from other units have no clue what we do. I get the "How do you breathe under that mask all day long?" or "Don't you get bored doing the same cases every day?" I don't mind educating people about what I do because I didn't now what a circulating or scrub nurse was before I went into the OR. However, I resent those who ask me what my job responsibilites are because they think I sit around all day long.

orrnlori, RN · Mar 21, 2004

Yeah, us OR nurses are just a bunch of dummies who pass instruments and just sit around all day. :rotfl:

sharann, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2004

Yeah, us OR nurses are just a bunch of dummies who pass instruments and just sit around all day. :rotfl:

I could never work the OR. I don't have the ability to be around surgeons for hours at at time without wanting to hurl equipment at THEM. I also can't breathe under the mask for very long :chuckle

We all work hard in our departments(the ones who don't are the exceptions hopefully).

TMnurse · Mar 21, 2004

Here's the funniest thing. After three years, I hadn't realized how "immune" to surgeons in the OR i had become. I love the OR but just to change things up a little I am starting to work in a clinic. I am not going to say good or bad but not dealing with surgeons can be really nice. I even had a gastoenteroloigist (MD) mention to me that he hates having to deal with surgeons and doesn't know how we do it. I mean in the clinic an outburst by an MD that would be typical in the OR is basically unheard of. I mean if the other clinic nurses were even yelled at they'd probably cry. I can say one thing. Having having worked in the OR it does give you excellent perspective in pain/recover/expectations. Since I have see say... an open prostatectomy I clearly understand that this patient has a lot more going on then a 4 inch stapled suture line when they come back to clinic.