divokevan

Okay, I know this was a year ago, but you can't be slow in the OR. It is the most stressful job I have ever had! Just because there is only one patient at a time doesn't mean you don't prioritize.

I've planned on doing this for a while now so I have set up my experience to look good to these types of jobs. I worked in a GI office for a while then went to surgery at a large hospital for 2.5 years, did their RN residency, and got in on all the plastic cases. I made some good contacts and references with multiple plastic surgeons, I was charge in surgery... its really competitive, so until these experiences started adding up to look like good experience, no one was interested. I've also help set up my hospitals fat transfer system with centrifuge. Do projects that make you knowledgable and seem interested! Sorry for the long winded common sense answer!!!! Basically, its really hard to break into but I'm hoping this is the start of a long and fun career for me! Just look at what they want and then shoot for putting as many of those things as you can in your resume!

After working for two and a half years in an operating room and being charge nurse and begging to be in our few plastic surgery rooms all the time.... I GOT IT! I'm going to start as an aesthetic/plastic surgery RN at a private practice! No more orthopedics, NO MORE GYN!!! I'm so excited to start and learn everything about the office procedures that I can! Botox, fillers, thermage, IPL laser, peels! Two operating days so I won't lose my OR skills too!! I want to start tomorrow! But I can't... I have to wait until my (hopefully) 3 weeks notice is up! Its going to be so much easier suffering through the evils of my current job knowing such a vast and magical experience awaits me! The only thing I have to do now is get my ACLS certification (maybe Airway management). Any advice or prep work anyone knows about before I start my new position?

I work Monday through Friday: no holidays or weekends. I work 10 hours/ day, op, so I get one day off a week. I can request the day or have it rotated. Some days I get off early if I want to because my cases will finish up early!

Hi, I started my nursing career in a place I always thought I wanted to go, THE OR! This was about a year and a half ago. Now, I should mention, I was from an outpatient surgery center prior to becomming an RN. Over the first few months, I knew it wasn't right for me. It was the people, the drudgery of the large cases, the lack of help! Part of my orientation way back when was in the out outpatient surgery department and I LOOOVED it but thought better of starting there right away. As the months progressed, I hated my job more and more. So, I applied and transferred to the outpatient land of happiness. I have never made a better decision! No call, no weekends, co-workers are so nice I could die! There is always help, everyone is on the same page, small cases where I can be at peace and breathe while they are going! Love it, love it, LOVE IT! I just thought I would post this so that if any new RN's start in a field where they don't enjoy it they might consider a lateral move! It could change your life!!! Anyone else experience a joyful lateral move early or late into their career? (I will not have any talk of me losing my skills! LOL I hear it too much from my ex-coworks anyways!)

Bwuahahaha! Don't you worry you're little self about that! Plenty of stupid things you'll do in your first 6 months... at least thats been my experience so far! I'm 8 months in, two weeks on my own and now its a WHOLE NEW SET OF STUPID! Oh well! I just keep a good attitude and laugh at myself and try hard. Hopefully, this will start to become easier if I do that! At least that's what I tell myself. Once you're done though with orientation, you'll feel better!

YES! And this is why... When I was a nursing student, I started out as a floor tech then used that experience to get a job in an out pt. surgery center (ASC). This was affiliated with a bigger hospital and I used that tie to get into the OR the second I got out of school. They will love that you are trying and it is SOOO important to start building a relationship with a hospital. It will be good for you... while not the most fun thing in the world. I hear you... I hated the floor and only wanted to do OR all through school but I bit the bullet and got my perfect job right after school as a result! NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK! if you can get in as a surgical services assistant or whatever unlicensened job exists in your local ORs, then do it!! Otherwise, get a job for experience and something to put you above 60% of the other applicants. No one wants NO experience. Hope this helps! K.

I messed up big time today on a count. The thing was, when I was doing my first count, we counted open blades but there were two unopened blades on the field that I didn't put up (against my better judgement). Later, with the first count, we had two extra. I immediately knew the reason for this, but my preceptor was really mad. I was really mad at me. I feel like I should pretty much throw in the towel at this point. IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT!!! Now she will pretty much never trust that I did the counts correctly. On top of everything, I had to leave before the end of the case and eventhough we had a correct count, I'm sitting here wondering if everything went to hell right after I left. I know its basic, basic, "you should have done this right" kindof stuff. But, I'm so new and I sometimes screw things up. GRRR. I wish I had known better. WHY LORD WHY????

To PetiteOpRN, You're right. I'm going to give it time. I prob wont quit I just had a loooong day when I posted. I'm just going through the, "is this really what I'm going to do for the rest of my life??" phase. It definately helps to have consistancy. When I'm in ortho rooms (where I've been placed through most of my orientation) I feel like its a good time and am energized by work. When I'm in a less familiar specialty, I feel like DEATH! Just today, I was in a Urology room (a place I hadn't been until a week ago) and it went fine. The more exposure I have to the procedures, the better I feel. I think a lot of it has to do with the people you work with also. (I simply looove ST's on a power trip!) To the first post, I'm not sure where I belong, but OR/procedures has been the only thing I have even been able to stomach to this point in my short time in the world of healthcare. I am an exact person person who doesn't mind criticism ... so that's not really the problem. Plus, I get more used to that each and every day (lol). Its more attitude and submitting to being RN # 103-1 in a land of a thousand faces. Its a big hospital and a large adjustment comming from a more cushey setting where you are more of an individual. I'll keep it up and keep going. I'm learning fast (apparent only to the others around me and not myself). It can only increase my marketability when it comes to moving towards a more plastic/asthetic ambulatory setting (which i think is where my surgical interest lies.)

I'll admit that I shouldn't have expected the big bad OR to be the same as my outpatient ASC clinic. I'm just having trouble being new in such an unfamiliar environment. Its hard enough being a total moron everyday! Let alone dealing with difficult personalities! I've been there for 3 months and I have 4 more months of orientation. Should I quit and try and get another ASC job??? I don't know if I'm cut out for this! Its very industrial in comparison to the cush world from whence I came!!! Maybe this will give me good experience for finding other jobs (ASC and otherwise) if I stick it out. Did any other OR nurses HATE their job at first and then love it later? Is there any hope for me?? Any advice?

Hey! Congrats on the new position! Anyways, I just got hired in an OR 3 months ago. I would agree that you need to make a routine especially at first when you feel very task oriented as I do now. There is less chance to mess up this way. I made a little acronym for the beginning of the case to remember everything (its dumb but helpful) S - apply your scd's and turn them on I - Induction help F- Foley insertion B- Apply the bovie P- Position P- Prep Every day I would be like running through these things... "okay, I'm on F and next I'll be on B". It sounds funny but it helped me learn the basics. Soon, you will get that down and be where I am... just trying to figure out the equipment differences and what's needed for various cases and incoorperating charting! Ugh... what a headache! Especially when you have to deal with crazy scrub techs that want to do things only when they want to do them even if you have to prioritize your patient. (Sorry just had a bad day!) Let us know how its going!

Phew... Well I finally relaxed enough on the field to think things through and take my time. While I have little blunders here and there, I'm experiencing waaaay less "tunnel vision". I like all of the advice about being slow actually being quick. I totally hear you. I'm opening up everything slow and I can see that with time, I'll end up gaining speed the right way. Same goes with loading ties and sutures, (finding instruments is a bit of a frenzy for me still but I'm working on it.). I finally realized how much I don't know and I am starting to take notes. Its getting used to the whole thing (including surgeon interaction and the helpful "hints" they drop). I think scrubbing is really helping me see the room a whole different way. I know this sounds CRAZY, but I didn't realize the extent at which the scrub and circulator have to know what's going on on the field! Eye opener! I'm pretty much wondering what I'll screw up tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it wont be the same things today or the day before. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday and we'll see where it takes me! K.

Wow! I need to get an iphone with my new paychecks if you can easily type all that on it! Anyways, since I've had a couple of hours to debrief by working out, shopping and ... tanning :-(... I've gotten a little perspective. Hopefully all of these skills (ie. closed gloving, flipping and opening) will become second nature pretty soon and I'll feel a little more confident. That way I can focus on the surgeon and the patterns that occur while he/she's performing the surgery. Haha. The problem is that I get so excited that I have to tell myself to go slow and not break the field(s) when I'm doing the opening and gloving. Stress equals hurry which equals contamination for me at this point. Not good. I hope I'm cut out for this!!!! Maybe I'm too "exuberant" for the OR! Did it take you a little while to fully acclimate to the deliberate, careful, but quick pace?? What floor nurses don't know is that the OR is actually really hard and we have to know so much!!! They think... just one patient...what a cush job. However, the way I see it I have like 6 patients in each case! The whole room and everyone in it!

Yeah thanks for the pointers. Good to know even experienced RN's forget the small stuff sometimes. Next week we're scrubbing and we'll be doing that for 4 weeks. Hopefully, that's enough time to take in enough to do it. After that, we circulate for 12 weeks. Today we had a 7 hour skills lab. I brought home some supplies to practice closed gloving which I SUCK at! I want to appear competent in this mundane task before I show up to scrub on Tuesday!

Hello! I just graduated in December and my first job hit the mark in the operating room, the only place I have ever wanted to work. Now, I have worked in a small surgery/ procedure center, but honey... let me tell ya' this is NOT the same! So far, it has been great! Doing the consortium and a week of classes about instruments, scrubbing, safety etc... However, every time I was in the OR (for active observation for two weeks prior to the consortium starting) I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT! I mean, I even walked into a room without a mask on once! I know its just a transition into a whole new environment but is there any advice any OR nurses out there can give me to surviving this transition? I am aware of the fact that I need thick skin and I do have it, but I'm the one that beats myself up most of the time for making "newbie mistakes". 1. Is it weird that I'm terrified of scrubbing??? No bathroom breaks and standing there with a preceptor, assistant and surgeon!!! AAHHH! I want to do it obviously, but how long did it take until you could scrub a hernia repair for instance. 2. Also, the OR is a very isoteric community so I'm trying to ease myself in gently and just trying hard at learning my roles and being as "competent" (hahaha yeah right) as I can be. Naturally I am a pretty social, outgoing person but I think this could be a good idea. 3. I am scared to find out who my RN preceptor is! What if I can't communicate with them!? Need... advice...and... words of encouragement from stranger RN's!! Thanks in advance! Ps. Your experience/story would also be great along with your leaning curve if you down't want to answer my crazy questions! K.