PLEASE HELP

FlyOR · May 18, 2011

Go back about twenty pages and start reading this OR board. Read all of the posts you can and then start formulating questions. New management thinking on the OR has a lot to do with error trapping, checklist compliance and basically having the guts to say STOP when you see something out of order.

The OR is no place for the shy or reticent. Are you a good team player but emphasis on the PLAYER. Can you take heat? Can you keep quiet while enduring an insufferable co-worker who is safe but should live on an island by themselves, all the while keeping your patient safe? Do you mind being corrected? A LOT? The OR has a huge learning curve, can you sustain being stupid for a year or more depending on how many specialities you have to learn? Do you have a strong sense of self that will allow you to say "I just contaminated that set up that took you almost an hour".

These are the things that are day to day in the OR. Despite what your management might say, there is a lot of biting your tongue and soldiering on. Did you ever do the "some assembly required" at 3am of a toy that a sadist designed? Well for some surgeons that is what they're doing with the human body and they get cranky, frustrated and will snap. It's not personal, it's the ******* colon.

Some ORs are great days, others you will walk out swearing to look for something else.

What management wants to know is if you have a flexible enough personality to roll with it and not become a problem/ whiner or just not be an asset. If you think your personality can thrive in a fast paced high stress environment, think of examples from your work that will exhibit these characteristics, all the while remembering that you are a nurse and you are there for someone's grandmother/ mother/ father etc.

This board helped me get my job, it'll help you too. Good luck!!

RN890 · May 19, 2011

Congratulations on your interview! :yeah: Since you probably already went through your interview (you posted yesterday) my advice to you is follow up with a thank you letter/email and send it to whoever took the time to interview you. Thank them for their time and consideration and also reiterate your strengths and why you would be a good fit for this position. There are formats for follow-up interview letters online. I definitely think this helped me land my OR internship position :). It shows them that you are really interested and really want the position!

Good Luck! :up:

nicenrse · May 20, 2011

Thank you! I did look back at previous posts, which was helpful (Dont know why I didnt think of that first) Interview went amazing!!! It was a panel interview with the clinical educator and about 5 other team members from OR, we all clicked really well, conversation was effortless! At the end I was told I interviewed really well!! the moment I left I sent a thank you card that had each panel members full name written in it, and now I wait! Should know by the end of next week! This is my dream job and I really hope I get it!!!!! I feel really great about how it went, so here's hoping!!:heartbeat

Rntr · May 20, 2011

flyor ... great post..

ORnurse77433 · Jun 2, 2011

I would focus on your ability to quickly learn, apply, and think on your feet in a very dynamic environment. Anticipation of needs and potential needs is also very important