tarheelrn2000

I'm fairly new to the OR (about 1 year in). I've been a nurse for 10 years and decided to apply for my hospital's Periop Internship Program. When I was accepted, I was told that they were hiring us for off-shift. I didn't have a problem with this and after working night shift for about 7 years I wasn't looking forward to getting up at 5 am anyway. So I sort of finished orientation about a month ago (they're so short staffed that none of us were able to finish the remainder of our rotations) and now I'm working off-shift but my hours change every week (9am-7pm, 11am-9pm, and 3pm-11pm). I think this is outrageous and half the time I don't know whether I'm coming or going. To top it off, the charge nurses are always asking if you'll come in early or come in to work 7am-3pm. AND, I'm still expected to take 48 hours of call per 6-week schedule. Is anyone else out there working 3 (or more) different shifts? I asked my boss if I could just rotate between only 2 of those shifts or change my hours from 9am to 9pm to ensure that they have coverage during the later hours. She hasn't responded to or acknowledged my request (she's a horrible manager who is unapproachable most of the time). I'm ready to quit but my co-workers are telling me to "tough it out" and that it will change after the new periop interns complete their rotations. My fear is that they're so short the new periops will get day positions or quit, and I'll be stuck rotating every week along with some of my other co-workers. What do you think?

I don't know if you're still looking but many hospitals in Cali offer ICU internships; many specifically new grad. UCSF and Stanford hospitals both do (I've looked into them myself). Someone else posted that Northwestern Mem. Hospital has one but I've been working there for almost 2 yrs and have not seen this. While they will accept new grads there is no structured internship program (only for the OR so far). Good luck.

I am currently a Med-Surg RN who would like to eventually work in the PACU. No PACU training programs are offered in the area where I live and my current employer requires ICU or previous PACU experience before I could transfer. I want to transfer to an ICU (they will allow me to transfer without exp.) for at least 2 years to gain the necessary exp. but I work for a large teaching facility with several ICUs. Currently MICU, SICU, and CTICU have open positions. If there are any PACU nurses with ICU exp. which ICU do you think would give me the most valuable / relevant exp. for a smooth transition to PACU (or does it matter)? Thanks.