debbieuk

Practice Nursing is a different stress to hospitals- you maybe the only nurse there and have to use your own judgement. For me (a practice nurse/ ex hospital nurse) the pay is appalling!!! If you need money don't go to GPLand, the unions don't care and every practice pays differently. If you are happy where you are- stay

We had one from the UK come to our hospital and it wasn't recognised. A bit like ODPs. Didn't even get him a CN position I would thing a post grad cert in peri op would be more beneficial here.

I love the teamwork..I love the fact that my patient has come to us with a problem and we fix it..no long stays. The AMAZING things that surgeons can do.,still have my chin on the floor some days!! It never gets boring... the constant change in knowledge and techniques.. i am from the UK and now in Australia and RNs scrub and scout..and when needed recover..so we are always changing and learning....wouldnt do anything else xx

It all depends on what visa you are after.. you can get a job and a 457 visa with a years experience but a permanent visa wants 2 years experience ...many get jobs on 457s and then apply for an onshore permanent visa later.

YES YES YES.. Nursing is worth it!! On my very first prac years ago a nurse told me to run away..i was horrified..i was there to help people..to follow my vocation/ passion ect ect...hahaha..oh times have changed !! I have shite days as does EVERY JOB!!! you have to work to pay bills - fact of life.. but i can HONESTLY say that i still enjoy going to work...i work with some strong personalities (O.R) the joy of nursing is that there is an area for everyone..it is a diverse career choice...i hated Aged care and medical...loved community and theatres...give it a go...you might just love it..... And Go Victoria !!!!!!!! Good on ya!

sorry about that....bit of local slang debbie

thanks for that...just been and had my pot off...chuff it feels strange start physio end this week and i have to wearan air splint for the next 6 weeks.. debbie

hi all, i am an OR nursein the UK, scrub and circulate and i have broken my ankle..i have a fractured fibula and a bimalleollar fracture i had an ORIF and ended up with a 10 hole plate and 12 screws in all... my worry is that as an ortho nurse will i be able to tolorate lead? my surgeon has said i will be off work for at least 12 weeks (i am 5 wks in and going mad!) but in such a busy environment will this cause a problem to my long term future in a field i love dont know if any ofyou have done this or know some one who has but any advice would be great thanks a VERY bored non weight bearing nurse debbie

hi, i have been qualified for a year now and i also went straight into the OR. we had a 6 month induction and 6 month consolidation and by God you need it! i went through all the things you are going through but all i can say is stick with it it WILL GET BETTER. i have gone from the person in the corner scared to get in the way to scrubbing for a total hip (yesterday) i do trauma and on call now and feel part of a team. there is still downsides for example one surgeon will not accept that people have to learn and will expect new staff to be as good/fast as an experienced nurse which can cause problems but thankfully our senior staff are very good at supporting you. at 6 months in i seriously thought about giving up and that i was not suited to the OR but after talking to other people it seems that it is a common occurance..... so stick with it and you will be fine hope this helps debbie

hi, in the UK we also don't have pregnant women anywhere near cement debbie

i would like to wish you all a wonderful christmas and a happy new year. good luck in whatever ventures you are undertaking next year see you all in 2007 :smiley_aa :loveya: debbie :santa3: :reindeer:

blood, guts, bones, smells, aching feet, a bad back, lead gowns, never finishing on time, and politics......... great team work, fasinating surgery, good pay, patient care like no where else and something different every day.... i would not do anything else I LOVE IT debbie

hi, i dont know if this is the same thing as i am not sure of your terminology but in the UK we have operating department practioners whos main job is to assist the anaesthetist. the maintain the machines and are responsible f or the anaesthetic room. they assist with induction/rapid sequence anything really that the anaesthetist would need help with. they also respond to crash calls and the maternity units for help with epidurals and c-sections ect. they can also scrub and circulate if they wish to come over to the surgery side (but most dont) they are accredited and certified and i really wouldnt want an untrained one having patient contact and doing this sort of stuff. debbie

hey all just had to post this ..... as yoou know if you have read my other posts that i was joining the ortho or team and was very nervous .... BUT I LOVE IT!!!!!! the team are great (apart from GOD, sorry i mean one surgeon who thinks he is but thats another story). the work is amazing and really challenging but i get it. also we now have 5 new starters in our department so i am no longer the most junior staff member and my, what a difference it makes. i am now treated as a fully fledged member of staff. i am most often scrubbed but also i am second qualified in a or now which means i am the most senior circulator. an now i am able to use my own initiative everything is falling into place. just wanted to let you know so that other newly qualifieds can know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and yes it can seem a long and painful road but it is so worth it in the end keep smiling Debbie

think i am gonna have to try and take my own advice now, i was told yesterday that i have to go to orthopeadics (or awfulpeadics as it is commonly known here) aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have finished my 6months in general surgery and was getting to the point that i was happy with my work settled into the team and did the odd bit of ENT and MAX FAX ans the general and thaese are the same team, but awfulpeadics i just don't know, they have the worst surgeons and overrunning lists you are lucky if you get home before 7pm some days and the politics are horrendous in there. but..... the operations are fantastic, the first time i saw a hip being dislocated for a replacement i nearly passed out! i remember standing there as a student with my chin on the floor as i couldn't believe some of the things they where doing , i hope i still feel the same. i love the OR i really do but i have the feeling that i am going to be tested soon..... wish me luck debbie

hi i agree with everything that has been said and it is the same over the pond. i think it must be a universal thing. at my hospital as a new nurse you have to wear a white hat, you have 6 months induction and if you pass you get to wear a pink hat. at 4 months in i thought i was never going to make it or even if i wanted to due to all of the above... i thought most of the staff hated me some of the surgeons where awful to me and i cried in the sleuce room more than once. then at 6 months i arrived one morning and tpld to change my hat from white to pink. everyone congratulated me and i had a fantastic day and finally started to feel part of the team i was told it takes AT LEAST a year to feel comfortable in the OR and i can agree with that. but i wonder if the attitudes from some of the staff is that they are so used to people hating the OR or starting work and not making it to the 6month mark that they just dont want to bother with you until you have a pink hat on and you are DEEMED fit to practice.......i just dont know but i love the OR and try to pass that on to students when they are on placement with us. debbie

hi can i just say that Degree courses also get a bursary and are paid for by the NHS, i keep hearing that degrees have to pay their own way and i was talking to a diploma student only today who wanted to do the degree and didn't because she was told the same .... it is a lie....... debbie

i am also the same . my pet hate is not only the inconsistancy of what your taught but when your finally getting to grips with a proceedure and you are just about to pass something and the senior nurse pipes up ' dont forget the such and such' or 'he'll need so and so next' I KNOW. i just am not as fast as you. people say to me be more assertive it is your case but these people have 20 plus years experience and i have 9 months and have just finished orientation. i was told yesterday that i have learnt to swear with my eyes..... so i guess i am getting there debbie

hi everyone i was reading these messages and they made me feel alot better. i fell in love with the OR as a student and went back as an RN and i have to say that even in the UK the staff in the OR are THE SAME!!! there are people that don't speak to me now and i have worked there for nearly a year. i have to say it is nurses rather than surgeons although we have some that can speak to you one day and not the other. i also thought it was me and maybe they didn't like me and then i thought it was the whole junior staff nurse higherarchy thing but now i think sod it. if you don't want to talk you don't have to. i just make sure that i am friendly and i ALWAYS talk to our new staff. debbie

hi, in my department (theatres) under agenda for change 12 months ago we were all assessed and staff nurses were given a 6 and sisters a 7. now we are being down banded to 5 for staff nurses and 6 for sisters!!!!! they are cutting sisters posts so there will not be a sister in each theatre, they are changing the job descriptions and we have been told to sign the contract or loose our jobs. we have had unions in and they have been useless. they have just said that at 5.30 we should just go home but how can we do that if a patient is on a table? they also said that they will support us if we get disaplinary action but who wants that. at the minute we are between a rock and a hard place. the ironic thing is that our department has paid THOUSANDS to have an outside time management company come in and tell us we are over staffed and we need to sack people !!!!!!!:angryfire

ODP's at my hospital circulate and scrub as well . they have to do six months post reg in each area and then choose which to work in. the RN's do this also between scub/circulater and anaesthetics. the only problem with being an ODP is that is all you are whereas a nurse can move on if they want to.

i think i did that wrong!!!! anyhow good luck with your training, if your course offers an elective placement (mine did 2) then you could request to try both areas as not everyone gets to go to these areas. at my hospital the students got a week in theatres which is enough if it not your thing but not long enough if you get the theatre bug. i liked it so much i spent 3 months there all in all and went straight into it once qualified. hope it all goes well debbie

hello can i just say after reading this post that i did the degree and for my course (dont know about any other unis) we did 3.5 years of hard slog. we did more practical placements than the local diploma 14 as opposed to their 8. we covered mental health, mother and baby & peadiatrics 250 hours each. yes we do extra work but they are not little. my dissertation was 15000 words!!! we DO get a bursary it is just means tested and you or your parents if you are still dependant have to be earning over 50,000 not to get anything. i recieved 450 a month plus a student loan (which on the down side, i do have to pay back). i spent 3.5 years defending why i chose the degree over diploma. i am a mature student and i did not want to top up later. i did not want to go into management, i do not think i am cleverer or 'better' than experienced nurses or diploma nurses - i just wanted to nurse and since it has all become academic it was the best choice for me. i am the only person in my family to get a degree and i hate to be made to feel ashamed of something i worked REALLY HARD to acheive. as for money, it means diddlysquat on qualifying. i get the same as a newly qualified diploma nurse. it may give me the edge at another job or promotion but as i am looking for neither it doesnt mean anything. I AM PROUD OF MY DEGREE BUT I AM PROUDER OF MY PIN!!!! sorry about the rant folks debbie

i love nursing an d theatres. i qualified and went straight into theatres. if you want to just work in theatres the adcise about ODP (operating department practitioners) is a good choice, it was a two year diploma but i thing they are changing it to three years. or you can do you general nurse training and go straight in. the job description for my job was no experience necessary only a love for theatre... and you do need that, it can be very stressful and demanding, it can mean long periods of concentration and standing still, but there is definatley an adreninaline rush with it if you like that kinda thing. hope this was helpful good look in your choices debbie

breathing through your mouth can help. just remember how awful it must be for that person to have to have you wipe their bottom. if they see you gagging at the task it will make it ten times worse! you do get used to it in time and i don't think it took me that long -the first time i had tears streaming down my face and was retching. afterwards i felt truly awful for that patient. good luck with your training - i am sure you will see sites and do things that make cleaning poo seem easy debbie