Perioperative Nursing in British Columbia, Canada

[NewtoOR]

Hello everyone,

I would like to get some objective feedback from new and experienced perioperative nurses anywhere within British Columbia Canada. Here are some of my questions.

1. Did you get two years of acute care experience before specializing in perioperative nursing?

2. Did you immediately enter perioperative nursing after graduating from nursing school (e.g. sponsored by health authority)? If so, did you find it challenging to work in the field without a few years of acute care experience.

The reason that I ask the above is because of the changing requirements of health authorities for nurses wishing to specialize in perioperative nursing. As of Spring 2013, it seems most health authorities require 2 years of operating room experience coupled with a background in acute care/high acuity. In the past, new grads were entering perioperative nursing without gaining 2 years of experience on an acute care ward.

Also, any advice for a new grad with one year of general nursing experience hoping to enter perioperative nursing. Should I focus on gaining a few years of high acuity experience? Will a strong acute care background assist me in the transition into perioperative nursing? Or, did you manage relatively well in the OR without an acute care background?

I would love to hear from perioperative nurses in the Interior as well.

Thank you for your feedback in advance.

[NewtoOR]

As an update, I got the answers I was looking for in my original post by speaking to an experienced OR nurse and educator. I decided to focus on working in an acute care setting for a few years and getting some formal high acuity training before pursuing any specialty.