wee kiwi

Hiya, I remember landing my first job in OR having only ward experiance too. It can be a steep learning curve and there can be some strong personalities in OR but it is very worth it and a great skill to have, its one of the best areas ive worked in. In your interview you'll probably be asked about how you work in a team, about your communication skills, how you would manage conflict, how you react to stress and how you would manage your own, what your strengths and weaknesses are, what you think you have to offer and how you would advocate for your (unconcious) pt if a concern arose etc They want to know that you will ask questions and know when to ask, that you can communicate well within a team, verbally and written. That you are a team player. That you'll refer to policy and procedure related to OR and do some self-directed learning. Asepsis is very important and quite different from what you would have done on the wards. As is counting instruments and swabs etc. Also documentation is very important (as always) and as an OR nurse you have a big responisibility there. eg consents etc. As part of the team you'll be responsible for ensuring the patient is safe as far as identification, pressure areas, tourniquet times, patients dignity etc. If you have a real desire to learn, the senior staff are usually great support and have a huge amount of knowledge, and dont be afraid to ask the surgeons questions either once you are settled in. I wish you all the best, dont forget all the experiance you already have, you aren't going in empty handed! Take care

Hi there, dont let the horror stories put you off! You do have to be picky about what you do when you finish training. Find out what the ratios eg nurse to patient are in the area your living in and the area you want to work in. Generally ward/bedside nursing I found was the most stressful esp when the ratios were too high, eg 1 nurse to 6-7 patients. Depends on their level of need too. When I first finished training I went into a neuro ward as everyone told me I should get some basic bedside experiance. I burnt out within the year as we had a very heavy workload (eg 4-5 dense stroke patients) and many patients died, which I had no experiance with. I felt too young to have the responsibility I did and the more experianced nurses were also really stressed and unable to support me. After that I went into womens health bedside nursing which was much better, lighter workload, interesting and good support from senior staff. Ive since worked in recovery (great job), theatre and cardiac cath labs. These jobs are better as you can only have so many patients and no more, where as on the wards its not uncommon to "have" to take on an extra patient. I havent worked in a clinic so cant comment on that. If you know what area you want to work in go for it, dont waste your time in an awful job because other people said you should. I wish you all the best and my only advice would be to do what's right for you and the rest will follow.

Hi all, Partners In Health Haiti are looking for orthopedic scub nurses, ER nurses and nurse anaesthesiologists. Logistics dont appear to be worked out yet eg how to get there and where they will set up but they are taking enquiries.