NurseCDT

We all know the OR is a terrifying place when you are learning, so I am not shocked that in 4 months she is still overwhelmed. BUT, all of us long term OR nurses do the same thing when it comes to our rooms.....Momma Bear to make sure everything goes smoothly. Sounds like it is time to step away and let her fail a bit (safely). It's the only way to ensure that she learns that she never wants to forget certain things. I have one that does this too, she will not get in there and take command of her room, and has no OR timing because she is fairly new (1 year). I just started putting her in rooms and letting her get griped at and she is slowly getting better. It takes time to find that rhythm especially when you are learning 50 different surgeries, 1000s of instruments, different specialties, different personalities, a computer charting system, how to enter charges, etc. They are just going to have to find their own way and struggle like we did. I would concentrate on making sure she has the safety basics down (positioning, prepping, counting, etc.) then let her flounder on the other stuff. Do not do it for her. Sit in the corner and do not get up. You are only there as a safety resource. It may be a good idea to have her switch circulator preceptors every week as well. Every circulator brings something to the table, and has their own way of doing things. It may benefit this new nurse to see this, and be at the mercy of different circulators. Best of luck!

The board is always a power struggle because whoever runs it gets to put their friends in the easy rooms or wherever they want to be. The nurses are just mad because they can't control it. There are no scope of practice issues here.

What's wrong with it? OR board running is just basically playing Tetris on level 5 but with surgery cases instead of blocks! Those scrubs probably know those cases better than the nurses do. They know the surgeons and how long they take to do each case, what equipment goes where, what is needed for each case, etc. I don't see a problem with it as long as they are not solving RN level patient specific issues and have an RN to consult with.

Our ortho reps run the Hana table. You mean like changing the position and angles of the legs correct?

It can absolutely be done! The OR is like NO OTHER department so you wouldn't have tons of advantage even if you had recent clinical experience. Just realize that before you go in and that it will be stressful for a while because you are going to feel completely lost and intimidated. But once you get comfortable...the BEST department in the hospital in my opinion.

Hi! No shade for HCA here, I actually scrubbed at East Houston Regional for 8 years before they tore it down. You will likely have to do PeriOp 101 which will take a while and teach you the basic foundations of the OR. The learning curve for the OR is very long so I would certainly wait to register for your BSN or you are going to burn yourself out quick. Get a small notebook and write notes when nurses tell you things!! Just listen and make friends with the scrub techs, they can make or break your days in the OR. Also, you likely will have 8 hour days like 6:30-3pm BUT will have to take call also which means you can get called in for surgery at any time during that period. It's a blast once you get comfortable. Good luck!!

In my experience it means you live 30 min from hospital, or you have 30 min to get there. There is no way you could require someone to get the call and be ready to go within 30 min unless you have call rooms in the hospital where staff are required to stay while they are on call. It's facility by facility so it's best to check the hospitals individual policies.

Hi! I absolutely LOVE WGU, I have done both my BSN and MSN in Nursing Leadership and Management there. The reason I choose WGU is because the program is not rigidly structured like many other programs. I personally do one class at a time and once it is over I start another one. I have had classes that I finished in less than a week in both programs. The great thing about WGU is once you finish all of the classes in your "6 month semester" then you can get with your mentor and start pulling more classes over as long as they think you can finish it by the end of your semester. If it is getting close to the end they may not want to pull more over because you have to finish them once you pull them into the semester. I had finished all classes except for the last one within that 6months. I worked full time as an OR manager at the time. My background is heavy quality and risk so the material was not new to me. I was able to use projects that I had previously done for my final paper and didn't have to review a ton of the material as it had previously been my job. I can see the program taking longer for someone not familiar with quality and risk management. My secret weapon for any program is Citation Machine! Saves all of your citations in one place, creates reference pages, and even edits your mistakes and wording in your papers for you depending of the audience of the paper. Word doesn't have the new APA citations loaded in it yet so it isn't so easy to use for citations anymore. Another thing is get familiar with Microsoft One Drive that is where you will create folders for each class and keep your assignments organized. Plus you can log in to it from anywhere. Being super organized is the best way to complete this program quickly! Best of luck to you!

Hi. I didn’t plan anything out actually. With WGU I have always just started on class 1 in the program and knocked them out one at a time in order. I got super lucky and had amazing mentors for both programs! The last 4 classes in the MSN all consist of your capstone paper (in sections) so that’s even pretty simple. I work full time and did it pretty quickly so I know you can too!

$3.50/hr for call at my Texas hospital

I scrubbed for 8 years before I got my RN.

Yes it’s absolutely essential!!

No discussion groups, thats why I chose WGU. You do have to do these short videos but its super easy. I studied various amounts. I already work quality/risk so for me it was just writing the papers.

I just finished the MSN at WGU. Took me 7 months. Mostly papers. 1 or 2 per class

Papers mostly