Perioperative Nursing vs Cardiac Telemetry

[Rob Feature]

I just graduated and have been offered a job in the OR once I get licensed. I really wanted to work in Cardiac Telemetry and may have a job lined up there as well, but its not 100% for sure.

I have a few questions for you all:

-Do OR nurses get paid less/hr than a bedside RN?

-If I chose a job in the OR would or could that job severely limit my ability to move to different fields within the hospital or nursing in general?

-Would it be better for a new grad to learn how to be a bedside nurse as a fundamental starting point for a successful career?

Thanks!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I just graduated and have been offered a job in the OR once I get licensed. I really wanted to work in Cardiac Telemetry and may have a job lined up there as well, but its not 100% for sure.

I have a few questions for you all:

-Do OR nurses get paid less/hr than a bedside RN?

Depends on the facility, but in most the base salary is going to be the same. Others may pay more because OR nurses can be hard to find. However, with on call and call back, you will get paid a lot more if you are in a facility where call staff get a lot of OT. I went to a new position 2 pay grades higher with a much higher base salary. It's still a pay cut because I no longer get call back.

-If I chose a job in the OR would or could that job severely limit my ability to move to different fields within the hospital or nursing in general?

That's a question that comes up a lot. I have worked with many OR nurses who have later gone on to other nursing specialties- home health, hospice, ICU, med surg, and furthering their education to become NPs. Being successful depends much more on the orientation process and culture of the environment than it does the fact that you spent time in the OR.

-Would it be better for a new grad to learn how to be a bedside nurse as a fundamental starting point for a successful career?

Thanks!

That's a question that gets a lot of divided responses. I'm of the opinion that if one is offered a job in a specialty he or she finds desirable, he or she should go ahead and take that job. I have not worked a day in a traditional bedside nursing setting- I went into the OR as a new grad. I know that should I choose to one day move into bedside nursing, I will need to be upfront about what I would need out of an orientation.

[Rob Feature]

Thanks Rose_Queen! You have provided me with good information and food for thought.

Take care now.