odos

My husband is in the air force and we found out we will be locating to Spangdahlem next year. I am a nurse and would like to know how job prospects are in Germany for spouses either in German hospitals or the clinic on base. I know we are within 1.5 hours from Ramstein and Landstuhl and we thought maybe it might be a possibility to live half way between Spangdahlem and Ramstein or Landstuhl. Anyway, any information would be appreciated!

Talk to radiology about getting a fetal radiology badge in addition to your own radiology badge. According to the department head of the radiology dept of the hospital I work in- when you are pregnant you should be wearing two badges. The fetal badge you wear at waist level.

Yes- for most it does take a long time to be completely comfortable. I'd say it took me almost 2 years to really feel confident. Some days will be tough. Remember you have to get along with a team of people so don't take things too personally. Remember that you are in a stressful situation so surgeons and other team members may snap but keep in mind the job you have to do and let that be your focus. Don't act like a know it all. OR teams hate that! Walk fast and speak up. It's hard to hear everyone when you have masks on and suction and machines going. You can't be timid. But don't be overly eager either. Don't cross sterile fields so be very aware of your surroundings. The surgical techs can be very over protective of the sterile environment- which they should be as you should too! So be mindful of the blue. Enjoy this time and learn as much as you can! Good luck!

If you want to be a CRNA don't waste your time in the OR. CRNA schools want you to have critical care experience and OR is not critical care. The OR can lead you to being an RNFA, OR educator, Surgical Rep, OR director and sometimes you can be an NP that assists with a surgeon (although surgeon usually use Physician Assistants). I find that OR nurses usually stay OR nurses so if you are looking to change specialties often I'd do ICU. Seems like after having ICU experience you can get a job in almost any other nursing specialty.

I agree with RNOTODAY. Go for general surgery. It'll get you use to the instruments and keeping track of your counts. Plus a lot of call cases are general procedures such as lap choles and lap appys.

You need to give it some time. Don't get me wrong, it can get very boring but it won't be like that every day. Plus, you aren't on your own yet so right now you have that preceptor to make sure everything is done and you may not even realize it's being done. When you finally lead your own room then it may be more exciting. It's been about three years and I still love being an OR nurse. I work with great people and I have just enough patient interaction to make my work feel satisfying. Sometimes too much patient interaction is just plain stressful. But who knows? you may find after a year and half that OR nursing isn't for you. And that is not a waste. Sometimes knowing what you don't like is a blessing. It'll get you closer to finding a specialty you do like. It may lead you to other opportunities you may have never known about if it weren't for the OR. So right now, learn all you can and make the most of this opportunity. There are a lot of new grads that would give anything for the opportunity you have.

My first job out of RN school was in med surg and I lasted about 2 months. It was hell! I cried almost every day. I wanted to be an OR nurse from the very beginning so I was happy to finally land a job as a OR nurse soon after the med surg position. It's been almost 3 years and I LOVE it. It was everything I'd hope it would be and more! As far as the stress is concerned it really depends on the person. I know some floor nurses that tried switching to the OR but after a few weeks in the OR orientation they couldn't handle the stress of the OR and went back to the floor. I think the floor is more stressful than the OR. So it depends who you ask. People thrive in different situations. Everyone has a different perspective. You are just starting out and you have a long career ahead of you. Try med/surg- you may love it. You may not. The great thing about nursing is you can always change specialties. The important things is getting experience- and med/surg will open many doors for you. The characteristics you've described are perfect for the OR. Sounds like you'd be a good fit!

I think it really depends. There are some ORs that do a lot of ophthalmic procedures so if you took the per diem job it might help you get into an OR that does a lot of eyes and that would be an advantage for you because it is so specialized. The OR I work in now does many eye procedures but many of the circulators don't circulate in that room because there's so much to learn so the room is usually assigned to the same team. So you could use that experience and be very valuable should you choose to work in a Main OR. However, the St. Joseph position seems like a great opportunity. If you can afford to take it then I would definitely give it a chance- especially if you are looking to work at that hospital.

To answer your question- YES! you can go from a big OR to a small OR and be happy. I went through a similar change. It did get some getting use to though. It took about 3 months for me. It was very hard in the beginning. I missed doing the "big" cases and all the chaos and excitement. But you may find that the slower pace may actually suit your lifestyle. and A lot of times it can be getting use to the people that you're working with. And it's normal to miss your old crew but after a while you'll get use to your new environment. Or sometimes you won't and it may mean moving on to another OR or even another specialty. You may find you just need a change.

Talk to the OR director and let them know you are interested in the OR and would like to shadow. Even though you are not an experienced OR nurse- you are an experienced nurse so that always helps. I don't think you'd have to take a class- I'm not sure what is even available. A lot of times you get hired into the OR and the "classes" are in your orientation. You CAN get certified in the OR. It's called CNOR. But that is only available to OR nurses that have at least two years experience. One way to get into surgical services is through the PACU. PACU usually looks for RNs with ICU experience so that might be another way to get into the OR since PACU falls under surgical services. Working in the PACU allows you to work closely with the OR nurses, CRNA's, anesthesia and surgeons since you are recovering people immediately after surgery. So after working in the PACU a while you can probably easily transfer to the OR. Hope that helps!

What I did is I called HR and then asked direct contact information to the OR director or OR manager. That way you can get a feel from HR if the OR is hiring and with the direct contact information you can more easily get in touch with the OR department. I was hired as a new graduate but it seems that it's not very common to do that. It depends on where you are applying. I was living in a smaller town so I think that helped. But once I moved to a bigger city I noticed that many hospitals were looking for experienced OR nurses. The hospital I work for now does not hire new graduates. It takes a while to train a new grad. I'd say the advantage of hiring a new grad is that you can mold a new grad more easily to the way things are done in a specific hospital. Although it's great to hire an experienced nurse, it can sometimes be difficult for the experienced nurse to unlearn some things and get used to another facility way of doing things. I agree with Davincinurse. Look for a local AORN chapter and network. Show enthusiasm! and see if you can even set up a shadow day in hospital close to you. A lot of times you don't get that much exposure to the OR when you are in nursing school so contact an OR and explain that you'd like to see more. If you can't get hired in the OR then try another area and then see how possible it is to do a transfer to the OR. Good luck!

I am interested in applying to Ball State's online FNP program. How are the classes conducted? Are there lectures that you download online or is it JUST assigned reading and powerpoints?

Everything will be OK. I am new nurse and new to the OR. I've been in orientation for about 3 months now and only in the last couple of weeks have I started to feel even a little comfortable. My educator told me that it will take about a year until I finally get it. So you're probably right where you should be. Just go in and do your best. Don't be afraid to ask questions and if the surgeons, techs, or other nurses make you feel like your questions are stupid just tell yourself that you're learning and move on. I keep a little book with notes that help me remember the routine of the surgeries and surgeon preferences, pretty much just any notes that help me remember things. Also, make sure that you have a little card or anything to carry around with you that has important extensions so that if you don't know what to do you'll at least know who to contact. Hope those tips help. Hang in there- everything gets easier the more you do it.

You should do both! Contact HR/submit your resume and contact the nurse manager. Just because your job searches don't pull up info on any formal internships it may be that the hospitals have them but they just don't do a good job displaying that they are available. The hospital I work for now did not have anything on their website about an OR internship but I called and got more info and it turns out they do accept new grads in the OR and have a 3 month program. Let them know you really want it. Include a cover letter in your resume explaining your experiences and your enthusiasm to work in the OR. Since you are still in school, ask them if you can come and observe for a day or two. And since your working in a hospital now, start at that hospital. and let people know you're interested in becoming a perioperative nurse because you never know who you might meet or who could help you find a position. Join AORN- I was a student member and it had a lot of good information. I think there is even a mentor program through their website that can connect you with perioperative nurses who are interested in mentoring. it seems like a great way to learn more about the profession and to network. good luck!

after a surgery was over i attempted to change out a full suction canister but it started to splatter out. an attendant ended up getting it. i'm still orienting so if i come across this situation again. what's the best way to prevent it splattering? and if i'm changing out the canister during a surgery, do i turn off the suction and then change it or can i change everything without turning the suction off? i guess i'm not understanding how the pressure build up works

hi. i'm a newly hired OR nurse (I haven't even started yet) and was a little disappointed to learn that my hospital, for the most part, has the RN circulate only. I use to be a ophthalmic surgical tech and really enjoyed assisting (LASIK and cataract surgery). A big reason why I went to nursing school was to go beyond the eyes and do major cases. I know that there are RNFAs and was wondering if I would be able to get the RNFA training without having experience as a scrub RN because it looks like all I'll be doing is circulating and I'd love to do both. I know it takes a while to even qualify to apply to an RNFA training but at least I'd know if it would even be a possibility.