sandiegojames

Getting more efficiency out of your operating room assistants would without question be the primary area I would focus on to start with. In our OR, the periOP assistants are responsible for checking in with the room staff and having the equipment fo...

I'm an RN in the Operating Room, but while in school, like lots of students, worked as a CNA. At the time I didn't realize there were CNA jobs in the Operating Room. We actually call them Operating Room Assistants. The operating room assistant or ...

It isn't actually required to have a CNA cert to be an operating room assistant, of course it helps, but for those who move to a new state or have had their cert expire its a good option to paying for a new certification course. isiptraining.com is ...

@juniperpearl - If you are interested in OR nursing after nursing school you should definitely explore it. OR nurse internships can be difficult to get, but if you are already in the department, it really opens up opportunities.

Wow, nice job on the career path with the army... You definitely made the most of your time! I was a Korean Linguist 98c, then nursing school and have worked in the OR for 12 years.

Nothing in medicine is worth it simply for the money. OR nurses or specialty nurses usually have the same base rate but plenty of opportunity to make extra for call pay. The heart and transplant teams in our OR are on call 50% of the time, so pick up...

Yes it is a challenge to get into the OR with no experience. Our hospital system offers a training program for nurses about once a year. I would say simply applying for a position out of the blue is a matter of being in the right place at the right...

Having just finished reading a prior post about jewerly in the operating room on patients I found there was a bit of mis information and lack of understanding regarding jewelry on patients in the OR and bovies in general. First off lets say from the ...

I was circulating a case the other day and the surgeon asked for an instrument we didn't have on the field or in the room, so of course the search was on... The surgical tech said he thought it lived in one of the sets but wasn't sure which one. So...

So far this is the best resource, or at least best free resource I've found for learning the surgical instruments. Anyone else have any others? We have a new student in our OR so looking for good learning options. http://www.surgical-instrument-pic...

Ouch, Our hospital just got fined $75,000 for self reporting that an Ortho instrument was found to have some bone fragments down in one of the small lumens that didn't get completely cleaned out prior to going through the autoclave. Does anyone else...

Just my thoughts on your questions... There are many many advanced opportunities that come from the OR. Management, educator, medical device sales, surgical first assist. OR nurses tend to be on the higher side of the salary scale simply because of...

If your goal is to become a cardiac NP, you need to go to the CCU/ICU. The role of a cardiac OR nurse, while highly specialized, is a very different skill set than what is required of an NP. As far as just being trained as a heart nurse in the OR w...

My mother is also an OR nurse and I just got this email from her today. Something to think about when you prep with duraprep or probably chloraprep. "Hi----Hey just want to let you in a a bit of advice----today I was prepping the pt for a discectomy...

I'm sure regulation varies from state to state. Here in california we are absolutely not allowed to activate the c arm or move it after it has been used on the patient ie reposition the c arm. The only thing we can do is move the arm prior to it's ...

Try http://www.surgical-instrument-pictures.com/ It has a bunch of quizes on a lot of the surgical instruments with really good close up pictures. You can also check out amazon, there are a few books which are nice resources, but the site above is pr...

As mentioned in the first post, jewelry should be removed before coming to the OR. There doesn't seem to be any arguement agaist this. However, to say "Cultural considerations comes second to safety" is not always true. An example of this is hono...

Yes I can see the frustration in patients being sent from the floor unprepared, we have this problem also. And it sounds as if your institution appropriately leaves it up to clinical judgement as to a ring getting cut off. Again the problem is with...

first off congrats. You can try to negotiate, however most hospitals start new grads at a standard rate but you can try. As far as the toll goes; unless your hospital has some program/policy for all staff its very unlikely you will get money for tho...

firm believer in tucking the draw sheet directly under the patient. Tucking under the matress IMHO leaves a larger space for the arm to slip lower than the rest of the body leaving a greater chance for nerve injury. However, more so than under the...

I see your point with the endo graft stents, when we do them the IR techs come over from radiology and scrub in with the interventionalist so from an OR perspective those cases aren't very complicated. But if you have to know all wires/catheters etc...

While I understand the desire to increase efficiency, patient outcomes and turnover times; allow me to voice some concerns I would have regarding a vascular specialty team. Keep in mind, this is coming from an OR nurse in a non-trauma, 10 OR acute ...

I'm in the camp that thinks a year of floor experience is really good for an OR nurse to have before coming to the OR. However, if you have six months under your belt, did an externship in the OR while in school which you liked, and have the opportu...

The answer is yes and no, I love having grown up here in San Diego. But as I said before it is very expensive. An 1800sf house is about $750,000 in a decent area. So it is a lot of pressure for someone who wants to have a family if they are far fr...

Wow paul, I suspect you guys either have weekend staff or have very few weekend cases. We use to take 24 hour weekend call, only one team but after a few of us ended up in the OR for 15-20Hrs+ we went to only 12 hr weekend shifts. Pretty importan...