ImAjoy,RN

Based on what you wrote, it seems like your only complaint of working in this particular OR is the culture, not the job itself. People either love the OR and stay forever, or hate it. The OR can be a tough area. To answer your question, yes there absolutely is a different between union and non union. I have worked in both and its a night and day difference . Now, the non-union ORs aren't necessarily all peaches and cream but there is way more teamwork and support going on then in the union environment! I also hated being in a "toxic" culture full of gossip, bullying and backstabbing. It is possible to find an OR without all that. Keep your head up, have some thick skin and be assertive. Good luck!

Well, it depends on what kind of a challenge you want. If you are doing open hearts and big vascular cases they can be long and 'slow' (for the circulator imo) but you will get emergency cases where its life or death and you need to think on your feet. Neuro/ortho/spine would provide for more variation in cases and maybe less boredom. I always found cardiac kind of boring personally but I like something different everyday.