cassxd21

I had a similar experience. I was hired in an OR at a level 1 trauma center, and was ecstatic about it. I had always been drawn to OR since nursing school. However, after a few weeks of circulating, I realized OR nursing wasn't what I thought it would be. I missed interacting with patients, and I felt like I wasn't using anything I learned in nursing school. Circulating nurses check their patients pre-op, and place a Foley if the surgery requires it. Other than that, we were just documenting, paperwork, or getting supplies. I liked scrubbing, but my facility had techs for that, who were very territorial and didn't like when nurses scrubbed. I decided to stay for a year and then transferred to acute care. I still love the OR and think it's so interesting, but I just didn't like to circulate, and that's ok. Nursing school doesn't really teach OR nursing, so the only way to know it's not for you is to stick it out for a while. I do not regret my year there. I learned so much, and saw so many interesting things that I wouldn't have seen elsewhere. I will say that the most difficult part was getting hired in another service. OR nurses are in high demand because many people switch out. So whenever I applied to acute care positions at other hospitals, they would just call me back for OR.

I had a similar experience. I was hired in an OR at a level 1 trauma center, and was ecstatic about it. I had always been drawn to OR since nursing school. However, after a few weeks of circulating, I realized OR nursing wasn't what I thought it would be. I missed interacting with patients, and I felt like I wasn't using anything I learned in nursing school. Circulating nurses check their patients pre-op, and place a Foley if the surgery requires it. Other than that, we were just documenting, paperwork, or getting supplies. I liked scrubbing, but my facility had techs for that, who were very territorial and didn't like when nurses scrubbed. I decided to stay for a year and then transferred to acute care. I still love the OR and think it's so interesting, but I just didn't like to circulate, and that's ok. Nursing school doesn't really teach OR nursing, so the only way to know it's not for you is to stick it out for a while. I do not regret my year there. I learned so much, and saw so many interesting things that I wouldn't have seen elsewhere. I will say that the most difficult part was getting hired in another service. OR nurses are in high demand because many people switch out. So whenever I applied to acute care positions at other hospitals, they would just call me back for OR.