Justme123

First and only job interview before I graduated nursing school and so happy I'm here in the OR. Had no experience prior either. Had over a year orientation and a few months in my specialty. From what I hear, other nurses from other fields are pretty much in the same boat. Just a different type of nursing and a LOT to absorb. I've been told that it takes up to 2 years to feel comfortable.

I work 11a-11pm and LOVE it! I have 4 kids at home and the 7-3 was KILLING me. I also prefer not getting up before dawn anymore, so this shift is great. More of a chance for some down time anyway, but not this last week. It doesn't matter anyway. I'd rather jam out my week and then enjoy the rest with my family, or even some alone time while they are in school!

Thank you for the encouraging words!:) I'm hanging in there. I'm getting a bit nervous b/c I'm moving to an off shift, so I'll get anything and everything! I was talking to another nurse today and she said it could take up to 2 years to feel really comfortable after orientation! There's just too much to absorb and orientation is just a blow through IMO. I don't think it should be realistic to expect anyone to know every service cold being that new.

I've been in the OR a year now, started as a new grad. Circulating is my comfort zone but they are having me scrub most every day to learn my service. I've become efficient in that service, but last week they threw me in another service to scrub and I felt lost! I got through the case alright, but I'm not solid on every set in every service at all and it get's quite stressful. Especially if you have ppl who aren't too willing to help you through. I'm just feeling frustrated and hoped by this time I would be comfortable with everything. I got into nursing feeling it was my nitch and was disillusioned by the culture within it quite frankly. Sometimes the OR can get quite abusive. I don't come to work to have to defend myself or 'give it back' and shouldn't have to develope a thick skin b/c it's acceptable to be unprofessional. :argue: I'm going to stick with it since I'm in this far. I'm sure there will come a time where you can't throw anything at me I don't know, but it shakes your confidence when something throws you.

I've been in the OR for almost a year now and am also a new grad. I've been scrubbing in my new service for a month or so now as well and am coming along pretty well. My frustration at this point is dealing with certain surgeons who still act as they don't like working with me, are rude, impatient, etc. I'm quick at flipping rooms, pretty good at keeping up with the pace with backs, cervicals, aneurysms and cranes. Some mumble and I gawd forbid I ask "what was that?" and they hollar at me. I've been told it's just b/c they don't know me and that it will change once they get used to me. How does that help at all and why is it ok?? I've never had a job where verbal abuse was tolerated! This one surgeon F bombed our nurse manager and he just took it! I asked him after the incident, and he said "well, that's just how he is". That tells me I won't be backed up in any situation. It's stressful enough learning on the job to scrub some of these cases, I don't think it's right that ppl treat new ppl that way. I don't care if he's warm and fuzzy with me a year from now, I am still apprehensive with ppl like that. Little learning occurs in OR's like that too, your just stuck in survival mode! I'm considering if I want to do this for the long haul. My home life is stressful enough!

Oh sure!LOL! I had worked with a Gyn doc who always whined about the general docs having it all. So when I was scrubbed, every once in a while I would say if he asked for something new....."Well, it would have been right there for you if you were a general doctor!":D

My hair is breaking off in the front, thats what I mean by killing it. I'll look into those different caps. I have a love/hate with hats and my hair anyway, so I'll just have to figure it out. Thanks.:)

Any ideas on how to prevent it????

We get paid for the holiday and time and a half if we come in, so it's actually double time and a half if we work. No time out of our paid time off is taken out of our bank.

Orientee: "When will it get easier in the OR?" Preceptor: "It will get easier one day, the next day you retire!" Older Surgeon to the young Surgeon: "Just as soon as the patients stop asking you how much experience you have they ask how steady your hands are!":chuckle

Nurses Demand Lawmakers Force Hospitals To Ease Workload Wednesday, June 18, 2008 3:13 AM Print Story E-mail Story COLUMBUS, Ohio-Nurses gathered outside the Statehouse on Tuesday to demand legislation preventing hospitals from assigning too many patients to each nurse. Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee said when a nurse has to supervise 14 patients in a unit, the workload leads to errors and puts patients at risk, ONN's Dan Weist reported. Linda Fearer of Girard is not a nurse, but she attended Tuesday's rally. Fearer believes her husband died because the hospital did not have enough nurses for all its patients, even though a jury disagreed. "He might be here today but for the fact that his nurses were overworked," Fearer said. Nurse Michelle Mahon of Cleveland said adding more nurses will not raise health care costs. "Hospitals make more than enough money," Mahon said. "If you look at the bottom line at these hospitals, they're in the millions and yet they are sacrificing patient's lives." Hospital administrators disagree. Tiffany Himmelreich of the Ohio Hospitals Association said the nurses' proposal is unnecessary and will hinder, rather than improve patient care. "Arbitrary ratios do not improve patent care," Himmelreich said. "Giving hospitals flexibility to make sure the right nurses and the right staff are in the right unit at the right time improves patient care." A similar law was passed in California, and sympathetic Ohio lawmakers plan to introduce a bill sometime soon.

There must be some unwritten acceptance about the nurses eating their young. I even went to a Seminar before graduating that touched upon this very subject encouraging us to NOT act like that. There should be consequence for nurses acting like that. It goes against everything a nurse stands for, at least that's my opinion. Treating another like they are stupid serves no purpose than a cheap way of making themselves feel better. I've had run in's with a few during school and now out on my own. Fortunatly, I've had the pleasure of knowing a lot of GOOD nurses who do offer the support and knowledge a newbie needs. I think in ANY profession it's important to know when it's time to move on. I think a lot of the sour puss nurses need to do just that. They aren't doing their job as a patient advocate by mistreating new grads. And I think management should take a very dim view of anyone acting like that. Not just tolerate it as a way of 'earning your wings'. At least that's my two cents.

Thanks for the imput. Thinking back, a lot of what she 'taught' me, others would correct me saying that what I did was wrong. So now I'm wondering if she did that on purpose to make me look bad. It doesn't matter. I might say something to the educator next week should I be with her for my scrub class. I just hope I'm not with her anymore. If I know your a nasty person, I have a hard time doing the killing them with kindness thing. I just stick to the job with no other social talk, etc. Wish me luck!:uhoh21:

I work in Surgery, a new grad (last June) and have been on the job a few months. Sometimes I get pulled from my preceptor to another RN, but thankfully not too often. I don't care for this other RN too much, she treats me like I'm stupid. I'm talking about really obnoxious such as, "take the plastic off the head rest".:angryfire But I try and get along with most everyone and just move on with ppl like that. Well, I worked with her this past week one day. Thought things were going well enough, she was her usual self telling me things that I took as things I could use to be more effcient but in a not so nice way (whatever). I'll be the first to say I'm not the fastest or most knowledgable being so new, but you don't have to give me crap for stuff I would have no idea of knowing. ANYWAY, my preceptor 'let me know' today that she had gone to my Supervisor and told her I'm slow and act like I'm not interested in what's going on. Made it sound like I'm doing a horrible job and that, in my opinion from what she said, a probable risk to the patient!!:angryfire I'm very upset and angry about this. She didn't even say a thing to me, nor indicated that there was any problem. Yes, she pissed me off that day and I didn't have ANY interest in her social talk. I just did my paperwork and other circulating responsibilities. Anytime she talked about procedures, things to do, etc, I was very interested and nice. I always put a good foot forward too and am a bit floored this has happened (although I've heard this before happening). Well, there's a bit more, something that is really nawing at me. Just after my preceptor told me this, we went out to the front desk. She asked when I'll be starting to scrub b/c I'm ready to move on to other things. My Supervisor said she thought I might need more GYN, but my preceptor said I was fine ( but whatever she wanted was fine too). My preceptor doesn't like GYN and made a little joke and I said "yes, I'm VERY interested in GYN ya know!". I guess my Supervisor and educator didn't 'get it' and it just didn't go over very well. Nothing huge, but given that other RN's talk, I don't think that helped me. I guess I can't joke with her, lesson learned. So, I'm wondering if I should just let it go or talk with them on Monday about this. I don't want to make anything worse, but I also don't want anything on my record or on anyone minds that I'm not good enough. My preceptor told my Supervisor I'm very smart, doing very well, and fast enough at this point. That she's had no problems with me at all. Any thoughts? Talk to them or not? Thanks for any imput. I'm half tempted to say something to this RN, but I know she's leaving in a few weeks for another position. She probably wouldn't listen to me anyway.:trout:

I did about 200 q's a day and reviewed any material I wasn't sure of. I didn't do any review classes either, although I did utilize medspub.com that was offered through my school which was a good resource. I had 75 q's on the Nclex and passed the first time. Good luck!