SophiaO

There was a mental health pt who would swallow her hair. Well after awhile...the hair had nowhere to go. So we had to do surgery on her. Opened her stomach up and inside there was a hairball that looked exactly like......her stomach. 7 years later there is still a picture in the OR of the hairball shaped like stomach. Really .....really gross!!

Ive been a surgical tech for 13 years..and have seen my share of people pass out..with that being said...The OR is a stress inducing place. You could be having a vaso-vagal response....So try bearing down (like pretending to push a baby out...) for 5 to 10 seconds.That may get your heart back to normal. Just a thought! Good luck with surgical tech school. Its a wonderful/rewarding/challenging career! I loved my job as a surg tech!

Being a surgical tech. is NOT easy!! I have dealt with a lot of MISS-Behavior!! Sounds to me that it was a huge mess. In the future find a job where the manangers will support you. Ive been at both types of places. There are facilties out there that do not stand for bad behavior. If you do find a place that supports your growth, go back to school and get your RN degree. That way you will be at a place that you love working at. Good luck!

To answer your question about being a surgical tech. and getting your nursing degree....I have been a surgical tech for 13 years and just finished my ADN last may. Nursing school is hard...(even for an experienced surg. tech). I was able to work and go to school. I was able to concentrate on memorizing pharmacology and other facts instead of reading every textbooks line by line. In reality every person is different in how they learn and how well they test. In nursing school its important to put into it what you want out of it. Your age is just a number....If you want to be a nurse then go for it.

Ive been a surgical tech in the OR for 13 years...The OR is a wonderful place. As a nurse your job is to get the OR ready for the patient, then go to pre-op and interview your patient and bring them back to the OR. Then the nurse helps the anesthesia provider get the patient off to sleep. As the OR nurse you clip (shave) the patients, give antibiotics...count with the scrub nurse. Then the nurse documents and open's up any other supplies needed during the case. During trauma the nurse checks blood...ect. Some cool things about the OR: you will always learn something new every day. you get to see some amazing things..(cool anatomy...very cool tumors ect) you work WITH the doctors...as their co-worker. We get to listen to music while we work! The not so cool stuff: It can be a high stress enviroment Some OR's can be brutal..(not nice ect... If you want a challeging ...very cool ....fun job I would work in the OR...(but im biased).

I would reccomend getting a NCLEX book you can study from! The way GA highlands test is NCLEX type questions! Which are hard if you arent used to them. You can even buy used or old editions..they work just as well. I did well on my first test....(in the 80's)..and thats good in nursing school! I also made a ton of note cards to study from. So just keep reading the power points presentations and try to get a NCLEX book. Good luck on the test.

I have Mosby's...(its not user friendly though). I have a really old saunders...One of the recent graduates of GA Highlands gave me a prentice Hall...and a NClex made incredibly easy book. The one I really like that is simplified is called practice questions for NCLEX-RN by donna F. Gauwitz. I basically like to test myself to study for the tests. You dont need this many..I just bought two and the others were just given to me. Old ones work just as well. Trust me ...money doesnt come easy that first semester. The books alone will kill you! Good luck!

Congrats to all the new Highlands students. I am a second year nursing student. I attend the Marietta campus with the Wellstar schoolarship! Here is my advice....buy a NCLEX book. It will help you with your test questions. This nursing program has really tough test questions. I currently have 4 NCLEX books to study from. I work and go to school. I was able to maintain 20 hours a week at Kennestone..so it is do-able. Congrats on getting in! Just remember when your stressing...how many people tried to get your spot in the program. Its a hard program, but it will be worth it!

I have been a surgical tech for 12 years and now im a nursing student. So... Try and find a periop course at your hospital. If you can try and do a job shadow you would be able to meet potential managers ect. OR nursing is different from all other types of nursing..so make sure you LOVE it before you invest all your time and energy into it. If you cant find an OR job right out of school try and get some good experience by doing Med-surg floor or maybe surgical ICU...you may have to work your way up to that! Good luck!

Im starting my second year of nursing school....so here is what helped me! 1. Figure out how you learn the best. Do you do better with testing your-self? Note cards. Just reading? This will help you test better. 2. I reccommend finding a recent graduate or going on amazon or ebay and buying NCLEX books and flash cards. This is how I studied for my test! In my nursing school the questions are exactly like NCLEX questions. 3. If I didnt like the way an certain instructor was teaching...(or they were just reading from their powerpoints..) I would fill out my note-cards while they were lecturing. Or I would read that chapter...or chapters while they were talking. 4. I work and have two kids while going to nursing school....so TIME is valuable!!! This being said..if you find a good study group that doesnt mess around thats great. BUT sometimes its easy to talk about last weeks test score or whats going on in everyone's lives...this can waste valuable time. Trust me you also need some social time too..its a delicate balance! 5. Hang in there! It will pay off! And just remember how many people would love to be in your shoes! Nursing school is so hard to get into now adays..... Good job!

I have worked for Kennestone for the last 6 years....and have loved it! It must depend on where you work. I have had NO management turn-over at all. The hospital encourages my growth and even offers the levels program to increase my pay. I love the people that I work with! So take everything you hear with a grain of salt. I do get my husbands health insurance. Only because its more affordable. The deductables with the wellstar insurance are high... $50 dollar co-pays. That being said they do have tons of other benefits. 401K matched retirement, health place membership for less than 25 dollars a month, a pharmacy you can order your perscriptions from. The list go on. I think in a big system some people can get lost in the shuffle. As a nurse you need to work in an enviroment where you can do your best with the support of your co-workers.

OR Pet Peeves... GYN surgeons who ask for my opinion....(im a surg tech with 11 yrs experience..going to nursing schoool.) Really I dont get paid enough to offer my opinions. Surg. tech who actually give doctors their opinion...without the doctors asking for it. YIKES! Nurses who string the bear hugger cord across the room..so that every time I move my back table my NACL spill all over. Nurses who put the kick bucket between me and my back table...so I trip over it. I have more ..but I will post later. Hope this made you laugh. PS...I work with one of the best circulators who on most days can answer the phone...the doctors phone and grabs a pager..all with a smile on her face...

Ive been a surg tech for 11 years..and am going back to school for nursing....My longest case has been a 12 hour reconstruction of a 7 yr. old face after a dog attack. Make that 3 rottweilers. Her zygomatic arch was found behind the refridgerator..and sat on my back table in betadine. The saddest case ever and it still gives me nightmares! We saved her life, but I am sure that her life has forever changed. When the dogs went for her neck they got one of her jugular veins...this caused her to have a stroke. I actually called in my back up tech...because the amount of doctors out numbered me..so we were able to break ourselves. Ater 11 years of scrubbing I really only need one 30 min. break somewhere in my day...but man is it hard work...emotionally and physically!

My recommendation would be similar to the last post. Dont trash your last job. Keep to the facts regarding your commute. Tell them that you've heard of what a great hospital they have, and is looking forward to working with such a great organizations. HR people like to learn that you have goals. Usually questions that they will ask is...talk about a challenge that you've had with a coworker, and how did you work it out with them. Be professional and direct. How do you handle stress might be another question they ask. Another one might be how to you prioritize care? They want you to be a team player with a good attitude. I would wear your hair in a professional manner. Usually up off your face. Wear slacks and a nice sweater. This will convey a sense of professionalism. Good luck!

Dont get discouraged. If your being graded on your scrub skills, it will take years before you "get the whole picture." It takes working with the same surgeon for quite a while. Knowing the next step in the hard part, when you've never seen the operation before. A good OR nurse is ORGANIZED, a team player, and a good resourse. For all these things to happen you need experience. Which your getting right now. I wouldnt worry about your other trainee. Everybody learns at your own rate. Just stay positive and dont psych yourself out. It will make passing instruments harder. Plus when you get stressed, your mask will start to fog up, and you lose passing skills..You can do it! Stay positive!