Private practice vs. hospital - pros and cons?

[alkaleidi]

What are the differences between working at an outpatient surgicenter as opposed to in a hospital OR?

What I already know is that in a surgicenter, surgeries are scheduled, outpatient, and you don't have "emergency surgery" or traumas come in and in the one I am specifically speaking of, there is no being on call.

But I would like to know what other differences are there? How are the flows different, the politics, the benefits, the staffing, etc? Everything from work-related to not-so-work-related. Please share details!!

[brewerpaul]

I think the types of cases you see would be limited in an outpatient clinic. When I was in nursing school I spent time in an outpatient orthopedic clinic. It was a first class place but ALL they did was relatively simple cases: carpal tunnels, knee arthroscopy, smaller fractures. They did not do joint replacement, hip fractures etc. In a hospital OR (even a relatively small hospital) you'll have a LOT more vairety.

[MsLeylaBar]

Let me tell you, my background has always been big hospital OR's and when I got a travel assignment in a surgicenter, it was a bit of a shock. The first week, I was soooooo tired and my feet hurt so bad. The procedures in a surgicenter are short that all you do is get patients in and out of the OR. It's a money making machine. :chuckle The more patients you get to the OR, the more money the surgicenter makes.

Surgicenters: fast paced, private surgeons always on the go, no time wasted, simple cases, arthroscopies, carpal tunnels, foot surgeries, tonsilllectomies, cosmetic surgeries like breast augmentations, lipo suction, blepharoplasties; hours are good, mostly 7-5, no call , off Sat/Sunday. Cases must be done at exactly 5. I worked in a surgicenter within a big hospital so I probaly had more variety of cases but smaller surgicenters would only have maybe ortho only or maybe just plastics.

Hospital OR: if its a teaching one, its slower paced, procedures can go from an hour to 8 hours or more.. You learn a lot from big hospital OR's, if you want to be marketable as an OR nurse in the future, that's where you should be. Cons: more staffing issues in big OR's, you have to do calls every week and maybe one weekend a month.