OR_RN12345

We actually have sleep rooms at work if things are slow. On night shift, we set up rooms for the next day, go through case carts, etc. But if things are quiet, we can go back and grab a few hours of sleep. The RN has the charge beeper if any traumas come in. We get up early and open certain cases for the day shift. The RN, tech, CRNA, and MDA are allowed to sleep if they are on the beeper (the tech doesn't have a beeper). We work 16 hr night shifts (3pm -7am).

We have 2 groups of holidays. "Summer" holidays are Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day. "Winter" ones are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. We draw numbers twice a year and choose which holiday/shift we want based on those numbers. Often we will work one shift and call for the rest of the weekend if a Monday holiday. If you have a high enough number, you may not end up with a holiday for that season (more staff than holiday slots). Also, if you work Christmas, you are exempt from it for the next 3 years.

We recently had a situation at work where a scrub tech led staff to believe she had just graduated with her BSN. She was to be hired as a graduate nurse. She was still under the job title of ST, but had oriented a few days as a circulator. When pressed for her credentials, the truth came out that she had lied about the whole thing for over 3 years. She was in nursing school, but was only half way done. However, management has told us that they are not reporting this to the board of nursing since, after reviewing charts, she did not do anything that is a strictly RN role. She had inserted foleys, prepped, and counted. According to management, the only thing that only an RN can do in surgery is medication management. Since she did not sign the med sheet, she did not practice without a license. Does anyone else agree that this doesn't seem right? By that logic, the only role of the RN in the OR is med management. I kind of feel like my hard work to get my BSN was not worth it since a tech with half the training can do virtually everything I can in the OR. A floor RN has many more responsibilities than a tech, but not so in the OR.