cupcake75

Surgical techs can be certified or non-certified. There is no licensure, but I am wondering what you feel the difference between a RNFA and a STFA would be if they have the same FA training. Surgical techs have specialized surgical training - that's what they go to school for. RNs have a broader range of training during school and only once they have graduated do they have the opportunity to focus on a specialty. If both the RN and the surgical tech had 2 years of training and came out of school with an Associate's Degree, the surgical tech would be able to get a job in the OR srubbing immediately with a shorter orientation time whereas the RN would need to have longer orientation or much more intense orientation in order to become a scrub nurse. By the time the RN had the scrub experience to take a FA course, the surgical tech would, in all reality, have more experience in the field than the RN at that point.

Surgical tech programs range from 19 weeks to 2 year associate degree programs and beyond. In order to legally suture an incision shut on an OR patient, the tech needs to go through a first assist program and become certified. The same goes for an OR nurse. Not just anyone is given the opportunity to suture up patients. There have been plenty of times when techs and scrub nurses have assisted in closing wounds using staplers and steri strips, but almost never using needle and suture thread without being a certified FA.

Um, not sure how it is in your hospital, but as a surgical tech, my job is not only to set up for an operation, but to actually assist the surgeon while he/she operates. I have never had to clean up like a housekeeper, but I have had to break down a room after surgery, making sure that my instruments are all there and placed back in their containers and that everything blue is placed in the correct trash container. AND, every place I have ever worked, the OR nurse (circulator) has assisted in the turnover of the room in order to get the next case in there as quickly as possible. So, does that make them just like CNAs/Housekeepers too, only cheaper? I don't know if you are a circulating nurse or not, but it is not fair to act as though the OR scrub tech is not an integral part of the surgical team. We may not get paid as much as a nurse (again, just depends on where you work), but there are plenty of times when we don't get lunch breaks/smoke breaks/potty breaks, for many hours, but our circulating nurses make sure that they do. We work just as hard, and sometimes, even harder, than the circulating nurses in our OR. It is the attitude you seem to be projecting about srub techs that has made me decide that the only way I am going to be a nurse in the OR is by becoming a scrub nurse or an RNFA. :angryfire

thanks for the info. i was just told about this service today and created my account immediately. even without paying for books and technology, it is still a great deal.

hi again. not sure if any of you are military spouses, and if you are, you may already know about this, but Military OneSource is offering $ to spouses of military personnel for jobs that can transfer anywhere, and we all know t hat nursing is one of those kinds of jobs. anyway, it is like $6000 and it pays for tuition and books and technology but not daycare, gas, or computers. it also will not pay for anything you have already paid for. if you are interested, go to militaryonesource.com and go to the MyCAA section to create an account and see if you are eligible or not. it can't hurt to try!

Hi ladies! So how about that orientation the other day huh? Which clinical day did you pick? I chose Tuesday b/c i figured if i busted out all my schooling in the first 3 days of the week, that would give me Th-Sun to read, study, and relax a little. I wish they could have told us what was in the unbound package too b/c there is a great chance we could have gotten it cheaper on the Unbound website. oh well. no big deal i guess. i look forward to meeting you all in august at boot camp

i understand about needing the income. have you looked at the class schedules yet? it looks like we will have lecture and lab on M&W 10-5 and we will have the option of clinicals on either T 10-6 or TH 7-3 with F off. that is just the first semester but maybe if you could sign yourself up for the T clinicals, you could work some shifts TH-SU but make sure you allow yourself time to study! My name is Carly by the way. Our letters said to be at school on the 7th by 830 for first-come-first-serve registration. i live in Clarksville and so does my one friend, so we are planningon gettingthere at like 7 or 730 so we don't get stuck with a clinical class that we don't want.

congrats to you too! i am SO ready for the semester to begin. i will not be working and the two of my friends that i know that got in will not be working either. are you planning on working while in the program?

hi there. i noticed you guys were talking about the HCC program. i assume it is Hopkinsville right? if so, i will be in the Fall program too. we should have a discussion group on here for everyone that will be starting there in the Fall or for all HCC nursing students present and past. what do you guys think?

Hi everyone. Being a veteran of both the Navy and the Army and now being the wife of an Army soldier, I might be able to give you some information you didn't already have. First, I think that if your heart is telling you that where you want to be when you graduate is serving in the Armed Forces helping our men and women who fight for our freedom, then you should absolutely follow your hearts. Being in the military can be very rewarding and God knows our men and women serving deserve to have people who WANT to be there, helping them. What I know about the Air Force is that of all the branches of the military, they treat their people and families the best, they have better military bases and housing and their deployments are the shortest. Even when their deployments happen to span longer than 6 months at a time, they have better facilities and quarters where they stay. The one thing I should say about military nurses however, and this may not be the case in the Air Force, they tend to be moved through "the ranks" fairly quickly, meaning that there is hardly any time that is spent actually doing patient care, but rather they are moved up the chain of command into what some people call "clipboard nurse" positions, or management positions. If your interest is to do patient care, this may be a potential problem. I hope this helped a little. Good Luck in school and I'm sure you will figure out which path is right for you upon graduation.

hey there Ash

Hi there! I am a new member on here too but I thought I would share with you what I know about college and nursing programs. I guess the first question I should ask is "have you already been accepted into the nursing program at your college?" if yes, then it is likely that you will not only be taking nursing courses, but you will also be taking some prerequisite nursing courses as well, to include Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology and at least one math class. if you have not been accepted into the program yet, but have been admitted to the college, you are likely looking @ at least 2 years of prerequisite classes BEFORE even being able to apply to the nursing program. I'm not sure how your college does things, but all the college nursing programs I have dealt with ( I was in the military, so I moved around a bit) "recommended" but really required, that you do all prerequisite course work first, with the exception of maybe Microbiology and Developmental Psychology, before applying to the nursing program. Also, there are some schools that require you to take a pre-nursing entrance exam before applying, as well. You may know all of this, and I'm sorry if I have wasted your time, but I would hate for you to be thinking that you are only going to be in school for 2 years, when in reality, it could take more than that. I hope this was helpful if not informative, if not, again, I am sorry for wastingyour time. Good Luck!