MarcieM

I agree with the posts above. For the OR if you have a strong preceptor and a strong surgical tech that can make your orientation so much better. They are a wealth of knowledge! I worked as a tech for 5 yrs and now I'm on orientation as a circulator, I love being in the OR and do not see myself as a floor nurse. YouTube is a great resource, but also give yourself grace they don't expect you to know everything. Don't act like you know everything, be teachable, write things down if you need to (get some.small notebooks from the dollar store), if you feel overwhelmed let your preceptor know, if you don't mesh well or you can't learn from a preceptor tell your clinical trainer and they will work to swap you if they can, if not make the best.of.it u til they can accommodate, DO NOT get caught up with the staff gossip and politics, it will make you not want to work there and as a newbie it looks bad. I've been at my job 5 yrs and I don't get involved, it's given me great peace of mind ?. God bless you wherever you go!

I didn't use any books, but my school made us do mandatory ATI prep online (the price was included in our tuition) and I paid for UWorld. I did 50 questions per day. The day before the exam I did nothing but relax and calmed my nerves. When I did my LPN boards I did Saunders book. I passed both boards. Praying that you pass. God bless!

I agree with the post above. After orientation you can ask to work overnight. If you work at a level 1 trauma center you can most likely pickup overnight shifts. I worked overnights mostly weekends for school for 3 yrs. Our OR staffs overnights, there are not usually many scheduled cases, but we do open hearts, kidney transplants and any trauma or emergency cases. We also set up the rooms for the next day like outting equipment and instrument trays in rooms so that the day crew can start their cases for their scheduled 7.30am cases.