Mr. & Mrs. RN

Hi all! I am an OR nurse married to a Phase II USAGPAN student. Before we got into the program I kept wishing to connect with someone who I could ask questions to. There is little to no info online. I thought I'd put myself out there in case ther...

I'm surprised. It's not usually peoples' top pick. So if you want it, you will get it. It's is probably one the top, if not best sites, as far as experience. But it may also be one of the toughest. The site director is leaving next summer though. I'...

El Paso/Beaumont

Best of luck to you and your family! I'll be around if you have any questions along the way.

Keep your hands busy and your eyes averted. Focus on the task you're supposed to be doing. If you have no task, create one. Fold towels, scrub spots on the wall, write a research paper...lol It gets better with time

I'm not really sure how your facility runs things, but I just walk into preop and talk to the nurse.

Listen to everyone without getting defensive or offended. This is an environment where so many things can go wrong so fast, which means people are very direct and blunt. They aren't being rude, they are being professional and safe.

Look for the air outtake vent! Stand by that.

We have two kids as well, 4 and 7. Classroom hours in Phase I start at 0730 and you're usually out by dinner time. Some spouses would go home and have dinner with their families before hitting the books again. Mine has a hard time shutting it down...

For an open infected toe, I would put a paint sponge on the dirty spot and prep from the foot up the leg. It also serves as a great way to lift the leg while prepping. Then prep the dirty spot last. All of my foot preps I prep from surgical site o...

I have a few scrub hats that someone gave to me and can't find anything like them anywhere. I like the tie-back hats, not bouffant. Looks similar to picture posted below, but I want one with absolutely no elastic, fabric ties instead. I can't stan...

I do everything but robots and hearts/thoracic. My main area is trauma ortho and trauma neuro. I do a lot of bowel, choles, appys, cystos, and facial fractures. Can you tell I work after hours?

If you want CRNA, head to ICU. As an OR nurse, you will head more towards NP for a surgeon's office, sometimes scrubbing in and assisting with surgeries. You can become an RNFA. Or you can always head towards management or education.

I can't imagine ever leaving the OR for the floor. However, everyone is different. It may take a few different units, or settings to find your niche in nursing. I'd give it a year before switching. Just keep trying till you find the right fit...y...

Only if they insist, and only if I don't need access down there. For pediatric patients, I try to leave them on if at all possible.

We also require the surgeon to complete an H & P prior to entering the surgical suite. It's not always ready for viewing if it hasn't been transcribed, but for regular scheduled cases, we compare our consent to the H&P. It must state that t...

Yeah, I failed to view your clicky's until after I responded, hence the edit. My apologies. The links are a great help.

Chloraprep and Duraprep have completely different applications. Don't confuse him/her. Chloraprep is a scrub, and Duraprep is a paint. Duraprep consists of Betadine, alcohol, and a substance that causes it to seal the skin. Duraprep acts by seali...

Don't tell them you're a new grad. If they ask, it's fine to be honest. And for heaven's sake, never say, "well I've never seen this surgery before"....or "worked with this surgeon". If they ask you a question you don't know the answer to, tell th...

Periop 101 costs around $1000 and I'm not sure you are able to access it outside of an employer. You're better option might be to try and find a place that is doing a new grad program, however they are extremely competitive. Your next option would ...

Yes, I count when the abdominal cavity is opened at all. A superficial hernia I don't, but I do for a mini-laparotomy. However there's not much that can be done if you're taking over a case. I would tell the surgeon that instruments were not count...

When we print out our surgical record with medications documented, an extra page prints out for the Dr.'s to sign at a later time. Pref cards are used as standing orders.

In our state it is illegal. By law, an RN has to circulate.

I can't seem to get a pat answer. The Stryker Ex-fix system only contains parts for the external fixation, not technically an implant. All implants/wires come in another set. So if I need to flash the system, do I run a biological or not? Would y...

Well see that's the point, the pins are completely separate, it purely the external fixation device. Nothing in the system is inserted into the bone. So the scrub tech tried to run a 10 minute cycle. I finally got ahold of our educator at work and...