penny77

thanks for the advice! I'm starting off on an antenatal, high risk pregnancy unit and was wondering if there was any contraindication to palpating the abdomen of a women with PPROM or placenta abruptio.. I actually have yet to see a nurse using Leopold's maneuver. Most of them just ask the mother where the heart is normally heard, like what was suggested in the other comments.

Hello all, I'm new to labor and delivery and would like to know if you guys can share any tips on finding the fetal heart using the doppler? Are there any locations on the abdomen that you find easier to spot the heart depending on the GA of the baby? Any tricks on finding the FHR with mother's who are overweight or have an anterior placenta? thanks in advance!

What is your take on flipping sterile items onto sterile fields? I avoid is as much as possible however the culture in our OR is to flip almost everything, including instruments.. How is this practice viewed in your OR?

Hi, So I have about half a year's experience in the OR and it's been a steep learning curve! Currently I'm trying to hone my skills as a scrub nurse and am experiencing a bit of difficulty as I do not scrub regularly and as often as I presume would be ideal to develop consistency. I was wondering if any of you could share some tips on how to organize my table? For example, what is your system of placing the small items on your table (sutures, needles, clips, ties, syringes..) where do like to you place your sponge, drapes, pharmacy.. how do you place items on your mayo stand, or in your pan. I hate that feeling of panic when you can't locate an instrument you know you have on your table! Please share all your valuable insight! Thanks, Pen

hmm. good suggestion, maybe i will try to take a few overtime shifts on another unit.

I'm hoping that I can still get those opportunities :) I was an OR nursing student and my experience was that basic care (hygiene) was often delegated to orderlies, meds were given only by RT or anesthesia, and anesthesia was responsible for the pre-op assessment. I will still take the opportunity to be as involved as possible and ask questions. I guess the OR nursing experience will differ from hospital to hospital... oh and glad to hear those nurses transitioned well!

hmm.. i apologize if my post came off offensively to OR nurses. You could simply have responded "don't worry, you won't lose any skills or knowledge because you will still be performing them, and exposed to them in the OR." much more effective and constructive, no?

thank you for that :) I thought of this while I was writing the original post, that I won't know what I'll want in years to come.. I guess I am looking for some comfort that the transition will not be too "rough" should I decide to pursue a different path.

Hello everyone! I'm a relatively new grad of '08 with 6 months experience on an orthopedics floor. I will soon be starting a new job in the OR at a pediatric hospital. While I am truly excited to start in this field of nursing, part of me is still hoping that somewhere in the future, be it 3, 5, 10 years.. i may have the opportunity to work again with "conscious" patients, perhaps on the floor or otherwise. I know there are parts of nursing, such as the patient contact, that I will surely miss. That being said.. How do you suggest I keep my skills and knowledge updated? Did any of you working in a specialty such as the OR switch to another area of nursing and find it difficult to cope? How did you work through it? Thanks for the suggestions! oh in case anyone can benefit, this is an excellent site that provides all the recent findings in studies regarding healthcare practices. --> http://www.uptodate.com/home/clinicians/index.html

Thank you for your informative response :) I have more hope for being a good OR nurse despite being "quiet and soft-spoken'

My mom came here in the late 70's with one of her friends... at the time it wasn't necessary for her to pass another board exam (she only took the one in the phils) she had to take a french test. I will ask her for more details when she's home! I just know that she tells me how difficult the french was for her, but she still managed to pass on her first try! It is a hard language to learn.. I won't lie! but there are many people who come from abroad. Australia, the US who don't speak french and they eventually learn. When you come here, you will have to take the Quebec nursing exam plus a french test. I'm not sure.. but there might be a test that you can take within Canada but outside Quebec.. maybe in Ontario? If you pass that exam, you might be able to work in Quebec as well.. I'm not so sure about that because some rules have been changing lately. The main difference betwee these two exams is the format. The quebec exam is made of 2 parts, one is practical and one is written. In the practical, you have actors who will simulate a situation (ex: patient will have angina.. what do you do?) and an evaluator will be present to see how you respond. The second part is 3 hours of written short answer questions. The other exam that you can take to be licensed outside of quebec is purely multiple choice. You can read this arcticle here -- > http://www.montrealgazette.com/Health/Nursing+grads+pick+choose/1578788/story.html It was printed not long ago in the newspaper.. and will give you an idea of how nurses are in demand here. I didn't answer ur question fully, but if you have any specifics just let me know :)

Thanks to everyone who posted! I really took what each of you suggested, and along with my own personal reasoning... chose hospital B! I got offered a job at their peds hospital in the OR. so it works out perfectly! I get a fresh new start.. Thanks again!

thank you for your input! Today, I had a tour of the peds OR unit, and by the end of it.. I was sold! Really kind and patient Nurse manager and Nurse Educator.. The orientation sounds very organized. i was surprised that there are only 5 theatres.. and majority of the cases are quite short

Hi, Just wanted to give you some hope.. My mom is a filipino nurse and she managed to pass the french exam (her french is not that great)! you can do it! maybe while u are a caregiver here, you can take french classes on the side.. I also believe that nursing jobs have not been really affected in Montreal. There are still many job opportunities and hospitals interviewing. GOOD LUCK!

hey! I answered this exact question just today on another person's thread..my answer is here: https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/job-interview-for-390525.html GOOD LUCK!

I have to make a decision.. to work in a pediatric OR or an adult. the nurse interviewing me told me that I may be better suited for the peds OR because I am soft-spoken, and because their adult OR has some difficult surgeons to work with which may create a lot of stress for me (the reason i left my former job). From this statement, I am lead to believe that peds OR less stressful? Correct me if this is false, as I can imagine there are cases with infants and newborns that are fast and critical. Thanks for the input!

Hey, I just interviewed twice for two different ORs so I'll share what I experienced. The questions i was asked were. - why do you want to be an OR nurse? - what is the role of the OR nurse? - Who do you think is more important, the scrub or circulating nurse? (kind of a trick question. I guess they were trying to test my knowledge of OR nursing. I responded that they were equally important, but the circulating nurse is responsible for the entire room and has the flexibility of leaving the room and troubleshoot.) - Describe the operating room in one word (weird question. the correct answer is: STERILITY. i answered teamwork :S ) - What would you do if you found a more senior nurse breaking technique? - Why do you think you're a good fit for the OR? - What can you bring to the OR from your previous work experience? those are the ones that I can think of on the top of my head! They really wanted to see that I would advocate for my patient and that I knew that sterility is of utmost importance. I would say, really show your enthusiasm, make sure you know the roles of the nurse well, and that you have effective ways for dealing with conflict. You will do great! hope it helps and good luck!

hi everyone, Ok.. my question, short and sweet is : What is the major differences (pros and cons) between working as an OR nurse in a pediatric OR vs Adult OR? And if you have the time and interest to read personal details then you can find them below I have interests in working in the OR, i've spent a summer as an extern and enjoyed the experience. I was recently offered a position in the OR that I externed, but have not yet accepted.. I have a good possibility of being offered a job at much larger hospital (which is technically comprised of 5 hospitals).. I met with the recruiter of the 5 main hospitals and my interview went well, and my references were checked. I now have to proceed to the next step which is to interview with the specific nurse manager of the floor that I want to work on. Following my first interview the nurse recruiter shared her opinion with me that I may be better suited for the OR in their pediatric hospital because I am soft-spoken and mentioned that I was very stressed out in my first job as a new grad (6 months on an adult ortho floor). She told me that there are some very "assertive" (aka rude) surgeons and the environment in the hospital I was interested in is more stressful since they receive most of the traumas in my city. I have never really given thought to pediatric nursing.. but am wondering if there is a big difference when it comes to OR nursing? I'm hesitant to accept the job because OR nursing is such a different environment, and to add a population that I only barely touched upon during one clinical rotation? I have to make this decision by tomorrow! yikes. if anyone can lend me their input, i'd appreciate it!

hey.. so sorry to hear this happened to you my boyfriend and I were in the same nursing class.. but in the second to last year, he did not pass clinical stage and consequently was asked to leave the program. At the time, him as well as 2 other students were asked to leave. They all appealed the decision, and my boyfriend was the only one who got reaccepted! He really struggled during that time though.. he felt lost and didn't know what to do. He applied to civil engineering and a statistics program because nursing had left such a bad taste in his mouth but with the encouragement of friends and family he decided to stay in nursing. He (like you) had to wait another year to retake the class, so he found a job as an orderly. Now, he's just about finishing up the program, and although he still has mixed feelings about the career, he's happy that he stuck with it. As for the other two who were asked to leave the program, one of them went into psychology, and one went into teaching! From what I've heard they are both happy in their new programs :) Seeing that you have one stage left, it may be worth it to finish it to at least have the degree. You can take your time this year to really think about what you want to do.. Good luck in what you choose!

hahah, absolutely.. if worse comes to worse, I will absolve myself of all responsibility by doing the toin coss

Thank you for your response, those are good answers to think about :) What I intended to say by "taking" my boyfriend's spot, is that I if I work in OR A, he will feel uncomfortable returning to work there because one of his co-workers stated that couples working within the same OR are frowned upon. He will then feel obliged to work at another hospital OR and adjust to a new environment. He tells me that he does not mind me working there, but if i do he will seek another hospital to ensure professionalism. I have had the first interview with hospital B. My reference check should be cleared within the next 2 business days, and if all goes well I proceed to the next step which is the interview with my desired unit of choice (in my case OR). So i'm not exactly 100% foot in the door, but once my references are sent, with our nursing shortage, i'm relatively confident about my chances. I received an email confirming my acceptance to hospital A on wednesday. However, I am 75% through the process of getting a job in hospital B...I now feel kinda rushed, cuz i can't wait around hospital B forever. and let's say i turn down hospital A, but end up being rejected by hospital B? oh my goodness.. i'd be screwed! haha..... but yeah. thanks for reading! So far you guys have convince me to go for B!

Thank you, Scrubby! Yes, this is exactly the type of situation I was concerned about, when the surgeon insists on using the instruments despite contamination. What did you do in that situation? Was the surgeon persuaded to stop?

where do i start. I graduated last may 08' with my BSN and worked half a year on the floor of Hospital A. didn't find it to my liking, so i took a few months off. I decided that I wanted to try OR nursing. I had been an extern in the OR of the same hospital that I worked so I felt that I knew what I was getting into. My boyfriend, who is currently finishing up his BSN was just recently an extern/OR tech at the same OR of hospital A, but had to resign because of his summer full-time stage, and he wanted clinical experience to pass the boards. He remained on good terms with the OR people and they asked him to return if he wanted. Now.. my dilemna is that I just recently got hired to this OR. I would love to start working ASAP but there are some things holding me back to accepting, just yet. I feel awful if my boyfriend decides that he wants to return to the same OR. Right now he's experiencing floor work (ER) and he feels like he's probably going to return to the OR. I feel like if i take this position I'll be "taking" his place and he'll feel obliged to work at another hospital (he was told by a senior nurse that couples working in the same OR is "frowned upon".) I also have the opportunity to also work at a much bigger hospital (hospital B). The hospital is affiliated with 4 other major hospitals. The process to getting into these hospital is much more stringent than hospital A. There are two seperate interview and strict reference checks but once you have succeded, it opens the doors to 5 different hospital. I struggled enormously to get a reference from Hospital A because they have a policy that they can ONLY disclose whether an employee has worked there or not. I am just about to finish this procedure and I am confident that I will get a job Hospital B as well. so it boils down to.. Pros of working in hospital A - I am familiar with their OR environment - I am familiar with the hospital system, the charting, the policies, the phones, the layout - 25 minutes away by car (good when i'll be on call). Hosptial B is 50 minutes away if no traffic. - relatively smaller hospital with less trauma cases than hospital B. might not be as stressful. Cons of hospital A - i might be losing the opportunity to work with Hospitals B or perhaps any future hospitals! Hospital A is strict on not giving references, but by luck and perserverence I managed to still get my references in to hopsital B.. but in the future that might not be possible. - Hospital B offers a longer orientatation program - i get a fresh start with hospital B, (i felt like a failure for the longest time for quitting my first job.. and hope it doesn't follow me by working in the same hospital) yeah.. i hope this all makes sense! Thanks so much for reading... I really really appreciate your opinions, even if it's just to tell me to get a life and stop worrying about such trivial things!

I had my interview and this questions was asked. Thanks to all of you, I had a well thought-out, confident answer.. and i got the job! thanks again for everyone's advice!

that makes perfect sense.. especially "Most nurses try to contain cost in the OR by not opening everything they find, not by breaking technique."