surggirl

Got out of it. I was surg tech for 11 years and then became an RN. Natural progression seemed to have it that I got hired right out of the hat to the OR as a circulator. It was a role change, and I had to learn it like everyone else, but because they didn't give me a chance to learn my new job and wanted me to be able to just waltz in after a couple of weeks and "get it" I was hounded. I was hounded by my nurse educator, by the other nurses and staff and I swore if I heard one more time..."BUT YOU WERE A SCRUB TECH" with that pitiful pained look on their faces I was gonna snap. And I did. I quit after another one of those "meet me in my office" routines I had gotten so weary of, and now I am happy to say that I am working in a low key plastic surgeons office where we get to do surgery twice a week in a very non-judgemental atmosphere, it was here that I proved to myself an everyone else that I CAN do this job where I am embraced and nurtured in my new role. I have the best of both worlds as I've learned Laser skin tightening and hair reduction and I also pre-op patients so I get the IV's started and all the pre-op skills down. Its actually been perfect and that huge hospital actually did me a favor by being jerks, and don't even get me started on the ***hole surgeons I had to deal with.

The problem as I see it, is...it doesn't matter how long it might TAKE you. Will they lay off and have the patience while you get there? I got out of nursing school and came from a major celebratory time. 2 months shy of turning 50 and I graduated as an RN. This is after 11 years as a surg tech. I was class officer, I won the leadership award for my class and I gave the speech. Coming from this "high" I get a job before I even graduate. As a seemingly natural progression of things, I get an OR position right out of the hat. I figure..I had been in the OR for so long it only makes sense to go back into what I know. BOY WAS I WRONG. I picked a hospital that can't keep ppl for more than their orientations last...at least in the OR. A magnet, level 1 trauma hospital that was going to show me the ropes. The staff were just plain mean, there is no way to describe it. I mean, they really resented new people. I was shifted from pillar to post, the preceptorship had no rhyme or reason. The expectations of me were so high that I was feeling almost harassed constantly with this comment: "YOU were a surg tech??" We expected so much more. Well....I wasn't a surg tech THERE! I was a surg tech in a free-standing outpatient surgery center that didn't do near the magnitude of the hospital that hired me. But..that's why I came there. I wanted that magnet on my resume, I wanted at least a year of a place of that caliber under my belt! I hung in there waking up every day with a horrible sense of dread going back. After only 6 days I was called into the office with my lame nurse educator ( where was she when she wasn't giving me negative feedback, I don't know!) telling me it just didn't seem to be coming together for me..and here we go again.."especially as a surg tech, I guess we just expected you to pick up on this sooner) 6 days? I thought I was guaranteed 6 months at least? I had heard others whom it took 9 months to get it., I cried all night about it, but was determined to carry on! So, I did. As I carried on, I was really doing what I thought..quite good at skin prep, foleys, positioning, learning where things are. I was beginning to be proud of some of my circulating competency papers because some precpetors were saying it really was coming together for me. after 10 weeks I get a memo to go to my educators office again..forget the fact that she all but disappeared after that 6 day meeting I had with her. Same deal..same ole stuff, just not a thing about what I "HAD" picked up and improved upon, just how I wasn't cuttin' the mustard. Funny she should call me in because I brought my brown bag in to clean out my locker and didn't intend coming back on Monday anyway. But....that isn't the end of the story. I went over to HR and I gave that associate relations HR person and EARFUL..and apparently they listen when you are the 6th person to resign in a month in a unit. They felt so bad about my experience that they worked with me to get me transferrred to another floor, and Monday I have an interview for the observation floor and the following week a community mental health position. yanno, sometimes you just gotta figure where you are, ain't for you. I am in a luxurious position that I don't HAVE to take crap. My husband has been a succesful coroporate guy for 28 years at the same co. and put me through school twice without me working, so yes..it's been easier for me. But...there are SOOO many other things and its just a matter of finding your niche'. But..my deal is..I would've stayed and learned it until I was good at it, but I didn't feel like they were willing to wait..it's like they wanna fast track everybody through that dept. and there is simply too many services and too much to learn. BTW..my nurse educators face lit up like a Christmas tree when i told her I was cleaning out my locker. I seriously think she didn't wanna deal.

My first midterm for my first quarter of nursing, I get an 80%! That is a C nowadays. It used to be a B back when I was in school long ago. I thought the test was easy when I was taking it. I saturated myself in all of it for weeks on end with study. If this was easy, and I got a "C" what is going to happen when it just gets that much harder? OH...NO!! I am so disappointed in myself, of course my best friend that I've made in class did 10 points better than I did. I have no idea where I went wrong!! Just venting.

Thanks Jules A...just as someone who is reading these posts, entering Nursing school in less than 4 weeks. I don't know if its been good or bad reading what people go through. This all scares me to death. I like that you said people are happy and that it doesn't have to be wrought with misery and anguish.:wink2:

Whew...as a very seasoned, surgical tech that will start online Nursing in the spring, I am taking this all in. There are so many "non-technical" reasons someone is getting the brunt of criticism.. it isn't even funny. It may have absolutely nothing to do with your skills. I've seen this all the time in the hosptials I've been in, and even the surgery center I love and help start 5 years ago. Newbies would come in and everybody is ready to pounce on the new nurse, the new tech..i.e., she's wacked! She looked great on paper but she acts weird.., we had one nurse that didn't know what a hemostat is, but evidently almost ran the surgery center out in California..I mean, on and on it goes. Someone doesn't part their hair on the right side of their head and your out. I mean, it gets that ridiculous, and PLEASE!!! Don't be attractive, not in the least!!! I was knit picked to death in the beginning by our first administrator because I was, and I quote.."Nothing but an eye batter to the doctors". She only lasted 2 years, I'm still there after 5 yrs. still collecting pay checks and when I tell any of our originals what she said, none of them can believe it! Nurses eat their young..I think techs stick together and uphold each other a little bit more and much more supportive than fellow nurses, and I never understood that. You will find your Nirvana, it will take awhile. It took me 4 places removed before I found mine, and even it was horrible in the beginning. I just made up my mind that she wasn't going to drive me out, and things got really great after she left.

I got my acceptance letter yesterday in the mail...yippeeee!!! I DO know what I'm getting into which scares me to death. Boy have things changed..fingerprinting, drug testing...Whew! I'm overwhelmed at all the different things I have to do just to be able to register. Of course my CPR card expires March of 09!! So I'll have to get that renewed. I'm really excited though!!

You can't dip below a "C" at our college. I have a GPA Accumulative of 3.0. I have a long, long history at this school starting in 1990...so I have about 160 credits already. I'm a graduate of their surgical technology program so it was a given that I would be priority during application time.

Yeah...I did worse on the reading than I thought. I always did so well on english in the past, and grammer, etc. I am HORRIBLE in math. It was the thing since I was in first grade my parents had to have conferences with the teachers. So, the fact that I did better on math than english shocked me. I'll do anything I can to help you if you need me to. We don't live far from each other. Keep in touch and let me know how it's going, ok? Can you tell me whereabouts in Southwest columbus you live? Like is it around the Georgesville Rd. area? My sister lives over there on Lynward. I work with people in the West Jeff area. anyways. let me know how your doing. keep me posted!

How did I pass it? Well, it wasn't easy. If you'll allow me to go back a little. ?? I was in the program 15 years ago, with a newborn and 3 other kids under the age of 10! The newborn was a "oops" but, I tried to do it regardless, I actually declined the class I got accepted into, and went in a few months later after she was born. I was supposed to graduate in the Spring of '96. I got to the second quarter and was totally blindsided by failure. I failed a skills lab the first time around that they didn't plan on, but hey, it was big class and they had to "weed out". ( this happens, it's not unusual for them to come up with something) and I needed an 86 to pass and I got a 84. so, I went out...and I waited. I didn't know WHAT I was going to do. I had all these classes, about 5 years worth!! All my prerequisites were done, I was an awesome student, had a pretty high GPA for a mom of 4! After I waited for a year and a half I had to do something to utilize my classes so I went into Surgical Technology. It was what you did as the next best thing to be an actual scrub nurse in the OR. I graduated in that in 1999. I have been all over Cols. Hospitals, and settled for the last 5 years at Dublin Surgical Center right near Tuttle Mall. I was contingent at Mt. Carmel, Children's simultaneously and the James was actually my first job. I always wanted to go back, but I enjoyed what I was doing, and know it so well it's just a job now, no more moments when I feel like I wanted to vomit from being so nervous. My husband just popped up one day, now that I have one married, two in college and my youngest is 15..and he said.."So when do you want to go back to school?" It really took me back, because I hadn't thought about going until Olivia graduated from High School. So, I started to inquire. I found out that NOW they require the NET. I was petrified! I haven't had that kind of math for several years. I had to teach myself all over again.Remember last March when we had that major blizzard? I spent that whole hybernation period doing nothing but math problems. I did several things, first off, I bought the NET study guide..did you get that? Then I went online and found one you can buy for like $15 that you can use for a limited time to do practice tests. I did it over and over and over. My family was worried about me the amount of time I did those things. I found another paper one online that I sent for. It had the reading and math portion on it. Honey, I found everything I could get my hands on!! I didn't make an appt,. for the NET until I knew I had everything down completely. But listen, I took the NET and cried all the way home. The test shut down on me before I could finish. I was struggling on every one of them. The reading comprehension was awful, the math problems didn't seem "the same' and I just fell apart. I told everyone at work and home that I failed it miserably as I was so sure I did. By April, I got my results. I actually scored higher on the math than the english. I got what I HAD to have on english and actually got an 80 on my math portion, even though it shut down on me. all I can suggest is that you do the math and reading online over and over again. You will see a pattern with the reading portion after you do it long enough. Where were you messing up and how were you studying? I am still shocked to this day that I made it. I am really worried because they did away with Math 100 as a pre-req and I need that class! I guess they must incorportate it now within the nursing classes, but I had a Math and MEds test book for nurses and I can't do this because it's not thourough enough in teaching. I need a class!! Let me know, I can try to help you find that test online if you'd like. Whereabouts do you live in Columbus? I'm in Dublin.

Thanks for asking that question, because as I was stalking around here, I'm just getting ready to start school and I can't imagine knowing all this stuff.

Columbus State Community College. I got my Surgical Technology degree from there, which was actually the same as the Nursing Degree. At that time, you just went surgery or Nursing. I was in Nursing originally and then was un-successful my second quarter. I had a newborn and 3 other children under the age of 10. That was 15 years ago, so needless to say they are mostly out of the nest with the exception of my 15 year old. I"m taking another stab at it. If they hadn't added this new "Hybrid" course which is online lectures with on-site lab and clinicals, I'd be waiting around for the Autumn 09 to start. I am still unclear as to how this will be on-line, but I thought if it gets me in quicker, "what the heck". Good luck to you!!

CSantos...you got me through! I took it last March and passed it. I have you to thank for the great information.

I am in search of others who may have just applied to Columbus State community college in Columbus, Ohio either for the Spring online class for AD healthcare professionals or the traditional track. I got accepted into the online project on a last minute whim. Has anyone else?? Thank you!!

Congrats! I start this spring...isn't it exciting??

Yeah, it used to be, if the text didn't "Click" with you ...too bad so sad. Now the opposite is true. There's almost TOO much information and it can get overwhelming. Theres just sooo much stuff out there!!!