JLynnOR

I am an OR Nurse of 7 years, love it, wouldn't want anything other specialty within staff nursing (except that I'm in NP school). Love ortho, love fast paced stuff, and scrub pretty much everything but big vascular (working on that one now) or OH. I'...

Hey--hugely valid concern. Glad that I saw this post!! My hospital system began a recycling program several years ago and has won awards for it. Legacy Health System in Portland, OR. I've worked at three hospitals throughout the system--two of the OR...

I'm a nice person, too and I had similar feelings when I started in the OR 7 years ago. And I did gain a lot of assertiveness that now is second-nature to me (I love how the OR shattered my "fear" of doctors). I absolutely hated the culture of "horiz...

I've seen both ACNP and FNP--mostly FNP. There are more FNP programs scattered across the nation, so that has some bearing on the prevalence of FNPs. I've heard (or read on this board?) that ACNP's don't necessarily have the Peds training in their pr...

You guys are awesome. Thanks so much for the encouragement and tips.

Your best bet would be to ask this in the Operating Room Nursing section under Specialty Nursing. Usually nurses in the OR have to do a little of everything, even if neuro is your passion. The other thing would be to go to NP school and then work for...

I currently work in surgery, and am in FNP school. I've worked with several NP's who work for surgeons, assisting MD in OR and seeing patients in clinic, etc. It's not as common for NPs to fill this role as PAs--if you've had work experience in a sur...

My immediate reaction to the thread title was "Ooh, those is fightin' words!" I've hearded nurses who should know better say equally insensitive and false things about scrubbing. (I often like scrubbing more, but that doesn't make it any less challen...

Depending on how long you have for the assignment, the term "sterile conscience" is applied to the individual staff member's desire to protect the patient from harm by making sure that things are always sterile. You can read about this, I believe, in...

Wait a minute--you were in podiatry already? (Reading is fundamental) You're not new to sterile technique in the OR setting, so you've got such an edge. My words of pre-encouragement are still applicable to you. The other reflective part of my littl...

Remember this a couple of months from now: It is grueling to start any new specialty. Period. So when your current excitement (and desire to do always do a great job) clashes with the intenseness of being a newbie, DON'T GIVE UP. You sound totally ea...

I know of one Ortho NP and one Neuro NP. Neither went through any specific training programs, although the Ortho one was an RNFA first. I, too, am interested in becoming an Ortho NP and was excited to learn a few wks ago about the UNC Ortho Residency...

I've worked in two states in which our OR owned mini C-arm machines run by the doctor. The nurses don't run the machine--as others have said, we just turn it on, get it ready to go, and print the pics at the end. For those of you who also do this, ar...

We have two scrubs for Total Hips and Knees (this is in addition to a PA, and somehow all hands manage to stay busy). Sometimes I'd really like to challenge some of the Ortho docs and ask them, "Have ya' ever heard of an Alvarado?" as they don't use ...

If not being a "real nurse" means cleaning "code browns" less than twice a year, count me in!! In all seriousness, the roles of all members of the interdisciplinary team are shifting and blurring all of the time. Just because people in other roles ca...

I have mixed feelings about this issue. Continuity, surgeon satisfaction, and efficiency often demand having people who've shown particular skill in an area in those rooms more often than others. I may be among the minority here, as one of the people...

Have some bandage scissors, and some cast splitting tools handy as well. Our docs almost all use plaster; it's strange how different preferences can be. In our OR, we've got a nice Armstrong (I think?) rolling cart with: 2,3,4,6" Ace wraps and Webri...

Yeah, NoCrumping, I think the trick with most surgeons is just learning who you're dealing with. There are some who are more than respectful, some who you just need to shut up around, and others who actually deal better with people who throw their **...

I worked somewhere that had a formula where your age plus years of service at the hospital added up to X number of years, and you were then off call. That really kept some of the people pretty loyal to the place--e.g. one nurse who'd started there at...

My hospital system implemented it on a hospital-wide basis for our brand new hospital before the rest of the system went live on this particular system. The software system, although not in its infancy, has a lot of "issues". And, in many ways, my ho...

My first OR, in a small community hospital, used the hanging sponge counter bags. This is what I came to expect as the standard. I then got a job working within a large health system in a moderate-sized city. My OR used a kick bucket and people would...

I don't know that the inference was that OR, ER, PACU or L&D aren't overworked, maybe just that they're more rewarding or feel more appreciated. I'd personally recommend getting ICU experience right off the bat. Many systems offer internships th...

Have you applied for the internship? One of my co-workers applied for it a couple of weeks ago, was in-line/ready to go for the job. Someone applied for it internally the day before the internal deadline, getting it by default, because SWWMC is union...

RNFAs and PAs are not even equitable. RNFAs are not mid-levels. They may be able to bill in some places for assisting, but they do not have prescriptive authority or the same primary care training that PAs/NPs get. As for thinking that NPs are too no...

(Before I posted, I didn't realize that there were four pages of posts on this. People on pages 2, 3, and 4 said what I was going to say--and better! Oh Well.) The scrub is always supposed to have things labeled, even (as a previous poster mentioned)...