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RN_JuJu

RN_JuJu

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RN_JuJu's Latest Activity

  1. RN_JuJu

    Periop 101 Final Exam Advice? (2018 / 2017?)

    RN_JuJu replied to N urse's topic in Operating Room

    I was super nervous, too! But you have 3 tries to pass the test, and the questions aren't very difficult at all. I would say it was a lot easier than the NCLEX. If you study the study guides and go through the quizlet questions, you should be good. That's all I did and I passed it today on the first try. It took me about 2.5 hours to complete all 114 questions.
  2. RN_JuJu

    Periop 101 Final Exam Advice? (2018 / 2017?)

    RN_JuJu replied to N urse's topic in Operating Room

    I had to really dig for it. Was NOT easy to find, lol. But here's the link: https://www.aorn.org/periop101/student-resources-dp Go down to PeriOp101 Final Exam Study Guides and click on the first link that says "PeriOp 101 - RN/ASC Final Exam Study Guides" and download it. I would suggest printing them out and then reading through it and answering the questions at the bottom. Good luck!
  3. RN_JuJu

    Periop 101 Final Exam Advice? (2018 / 2017?)

    RN_JuJu replied to N urse's topic in Operating Room

    HEY! I actually just took the exam about 2 hours ago. I basically used the study guides to study off of and then just reviewed the questions at the end of each module and also studied off quizlet questions the night before. Surprisingly, some of the quizlet questions were on the exam itself!! The test also had some of the module questions on there. Some topics that I had: Wound Healing/Wound Closure, types of needle tips used for certain procedures, some positioning related questions, surgical draping, surgical technique, steps of de-gowning, gloving, universal protocol, types of anesthesia, types of surgical instruments (differentiating between retractors, clamps, forceps, cutting instruments, etc.), steam sterilization, hypothermia... If you go through the study guide, I think you'll be fine! I had very few SATA. Got a couple of matching questions as well. Hope that helped!
  4. RN_JuJu

    OR nurses pls comment

    RN_JuJu replied to Lac1527's topic in Operating Room

    As a new graduate nurse with NO prior OR experience, I found it extremely hard to land a position in a main OR at a hospital since I didn't precept or do my capstone in the OR. However, I knew that the OR was where I wanted to be, so I was really picky with where I applied to. I was fortunate enough to land a position at an ambulatory surgical center a few months after I graduated, and was trained in their pre-op and PACU for the first 6 months. (Their job description stated that they would be willing to hire new grads.) After doing that for about 6 months, they then offered to train me to be a circulating nurse since our other circulator was going on maternity leave! I was one of the few nurses at the facility that was cross-trained to float between pre-op, OR, and PACU. I've currently been at this job for almost 2 years now, and was just recently offered a 6-8 month training position in the main operating room at a hospital! :) If you're finding it difficult to land a new grad OR position right out of nursing school, I definitely recommend maybe working at an ASU/outpatient surgical center first to get your experience. Preferably a multi-specialty center. Mine was a highly specialized surgical center and I felt that it hindered me from getting a lot of job offers. Luckily my new employer saw potential in me and decided to give me a chance. Now for the pros and cons, I can only speak on my experiences working at an ASU, as I haven't started my job yet in the main operating room at a hospital. So pros and cons of a ASU are- Pros: it's fast-paced; there's lots of teamwork involved in this department (which I love); every case is different, with different challenges that require you to stay attentive and think on your feet. Cons: some days are slow, so you're never guaranteed 40 hours a week; lower pay; not as much back-up in the event that something goes wrong. All in all though I can definitely see myself going back to outpatient nursing once I get burnt out of being in a hospital. I loved my time at the ASU I was working in! NOTE: I live in the Bay Area, CA, and nursing jobs are highly impacted up here. It's a competitive market- more competitive than in other states. This was the route I had to take that worked for me. Although I had to wait 2 years after graduation to get my dream job, I was patient and persistent and it worked out.
  5. RN_JuJu

    Adventist Health OR Interview!

    RN_JuJu replied to RN_JuJu's topic in Operating Room

    Hi! I'm sorry for just seeing your reply now. I have an interview coming up in two days and would appreciate any advice you could give me! Sending an e-mail to you now. :)
  6. RN_JuJu
    Hey everyone! So I currently have 2 interviews coming up, both for Adventist Health in different cities, but both positions are for an OR opening at their hospitals. Interview 1 is an in-person interview with the surgical team (Note: I already went through the initial phone interview with a recruiter for this hospital), and Interview 2 is a phone interview with the hiring manager I believe. I was wondering if anyone had any tips, pointers, or advice about Adventist Health's interview process. What things should I mention or emphasize? I'm extremely excited for both these opportunities, since I have been trying to get an acute care OR job for almost a year now. I'm currently working as a perioperative RN at an outpatient surgical center, which is my first RN job out of nursing school. The only OR experience that I have is through this ASU job. It would be a dream come true to FINALLY gain OR experience in an acute care facility. I'm also very fond of Adventist Health affiliated hospitals, and have classmates that LOVE working at Adventist Health. Please help me out! :)
  7. RN_JuJu

    bovie pad (grounding pad) site

    RN_JuJu replied to zarkasik's topic in Operating Room

    Curious: If a patient has bilateral total metal hip replacements and a pacemaker, what would be the best site for a grounding pad placement to avoid accidental burns and complications? Fairly new to the OR world myself and this is something that has popped into my head numerous times lol.
  8. RN_JuJu

    Struggling with the culture...

    RN_JuJu replied to nurselisa207's topic in Operating Room

    I'm so so sorry to hear about this. I honestly feel like a lot of OR environments are like what you're experiencing. I've been working as a circulator in the OR for about 6 months now and only really recently started being comfortable in it. I remember for the first 3 months, I felt so lost, misunderstood, and bullied. The nurses that I worked with were all SO wonderful and understanding, but the scrub techs and sterile processing techs (mostly the veteran ones with years of experience) that I worked with were extremely mean to me. They would talk behind my back, belittle me, yell at me in front of the patient & surgeons, and have no patience even though they knew I was new to this (and new to nursing in general). It was horrible. I dreaded going to work each day because of them and contemplated whether or not the OR was really the place for me. However, I knew deep down that the OR was really where I wanted to be. So I worked harder, smarter, and had to show them that I was capable of handling the pressure. Eventually they realized that I wasn't as stupid as they made me out to be, and I basically proved to them that I was good enough to be part of their team. I actually just had my 6 month evaluation and my boss said that she's been SO impressed and in awe with how fast, organized, and how well I've adapted to the OR! (I started off in pre-op and PACU). I also had the head scrub tech pull me aside and say that she's talked to the other nurses and STs and they all think I'm a really great nurse. She even said that I'm better than some of the circulators that they've had in the past with 2 years of OR experience under their belt :) *feels good* So my advice to you is to stick it out of the OR is really where you want to be. Work hard and prove to them that you're capable. The OR is an environment where newbies are going to be looked down upon until they can prove that they can handle the stressors of the environment. I know it's hard and at times miserable, but I do think it gets better with some hard work and dedication. You got this!
  9. RN_JuJu
    Hi everyone! I'm what you could consider a "stale new grad." I graduated in May 2016 with my BSN, and have been having an extremely hard time landing a hospital job in California . My passion for nursing is definitely in the OR, but I have ZERO prior OR experience. My school didn't allow us to precept in the OR our senior year, so that was a bummer. Instead, I precepted on a tele floor. I have however, been working two per diem jobs- both at two separate, independent specialty ASCs (one for pain management and the other for eyes). For the first ASC, I work as a pre-op/PACU nurse. I have mentioned to the nursing supervisor that I want to cross train into the OR, but she only gives that opportunities to full-timers (which I'm hoping she'll make me soon.). I've been at this facility since November 2016. The other ASC that I'm working at is orienting me to be in the OR(!!) this week, which is great, but this facility is only open once a week and it's a fairly small practice that only does local injections (so no IV sedation). I started here about 2 weeks ago, and I'm also per diem at this facility. There will be days where I'll be in pre-op/recovery and not in the OR, so I'm not going to be getting much practice circulating. I am still very grateful for this opportunity though, and I'm trying not to be picky and take what I can get, but I can't help but feel like I'm wasting my time by taking these per diem jobs. (I do LOVE both these ASC jobs though. The staff are great and SO SO SO supportive!). So I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about what I can do to make myself more marketable? I've been applying to OR jobs at hospitals in my area and getting denied for lack of experience/qualifications. Am I even taking the right steps to land a job in an OR at a hospital by taking these jobs? Should I shoot for med-surg or some other department and try to get into an OR transition program later on down the line? I'm getting really discouraged and not sure what I should do at this point, since OR nursing really is my passion... I've never been too fond of floor nursing. Thank you in advance for reading and commenting! :) Sorry for the long and somewhat confusing post, lol.
  10. RN_JuJu

    Recovery time post sedation

    RN_JuJu replied to Nurse_cox's topic in Ambulatory

    I currently work at an ophthalmic ASC and we have very specific policies for our MAC and general sedation cases. Usually if a patient just gets monitored anesthesia care (MAC), we have them in recovery for 15-30 minutes/or until they are back to baseline, and take vitals/reassess every 5 minutes. We don't typically attach MAC patients to a cardiac monitor in post-op. With our general cases though, we typically have them on a cardiac monitor for an hour after the procedure and give O2 postoperatively as needed. For the first 30 minutes we take vitals/reassess every 5 minutes, then every 15 minutes for the last 30 minutes. Only the RNs are allowed to monitor the patients in our post-op/recovery rooms.
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