drums326

I would say yes. Mostly, it allows you to be aware of the paperwork/preparation that is expected of the patient when they are coming FROM the surgical floor. At our hospital they have a packet and a check list of things they need to do on the surgical floor before sending them to surgery. Sometimes certain things slip through the cracks (I've had to go up there an yell at them for not doing EKG's on high risk patients!) and it's good to have an awareness of what needs to be done. Also, at our hospital sometimes they will attach the patient's next dose of ABX or sometimes a SQ Heparin injection that is to be given. Also, my background on the surgical floor gives me the contacts I need to do certain things that make me look good in front of administration. I have given the surgical floor some in-services on surgical preparation, and have gotten it approved for 1 CNE hour. Not a bad thing for the resume for teaching my old peers some simple OR stuff.

In the Army I rarely have to scrub, but we were trained how to scrub. We usually have two circulators in the room and sometimes they need someone else to scrub in and help out if there aren't enough residents/med-students. I know in the Navy they have a scrub-tech and circulating tech and the RN just kind of supervises via stool.

We require everyone to wear hospital scrubs in the OR. Our OR is on the 4th floor, and if we leave that floor we have to wear a linen or disposable jacket and remove all of our PPE (scrub caps, shoe covers, and no face masks down around your neck!). We are pretty much free to wear what we want on our way into work. However, open-toed shoes and frumpy clothes are looked down upon.

Gotta do what ya gotta do as long as you are always keeping in mind the patient's best interest! That being said, a little goes a long way. A lot of times the surgeons are nervous or don't feel comfortable with you yet...so try to make nice and introduce yourself and such. You always attract more flies with honey! Surgeon personalities are usually stereotypical, certain OR nurses will gel easier with GYN than Ortho. Some nurses use the strategy of being a total kiss ***, others use a tough love strategy, others get walked all over...My best advice is to be very observant while orienting to the operating room, and take a little bit that you like from every person that you work with until you build the habits of the ideal OR nurse!

Yeah, it's def. one of those annoying situations that we nurses are put in...when we know "what works," and institutions/organizations have to come up with some kind of policy when the issue is addressed. You probably know what's going to work best for the patient, so do what ya gotta do... I have noticed that the few different Army hospitals I have worked at all have different positioning gear. If they have a nice gel roll I still go with webril or a pillow case. I like the idea of a stockinette, I will have to use that! I don't mind using an IV bag if I feel comfortable in the situation. Usually I see them used in neck/c-spine cases, and our surgeons like to place them themselves...which I make sure to chart!....after making sure it is indeed safe for the patient.

Yeah, your nursing instincts are spot on, that is whack!

Our anesthesia providers place all of their leads themselves. Any preoperative EKG's are done in the clinic/wards during their initial preoperative phase. If there is a problem with how your pre-op people are doing things, why not walk over there and correct them directly or send an e-mail to their supervisors about the necessary changes that need to be made.

I like to keep it simple, basic New Balance shoes. My sister is also an OR nurse and she told me she regretted spending so much on Dansko's, saying they are better for standing in place than circulating, and where I work (being an Army nurse) we only circulate.

It will depend on your individual resiliency. OR is stressful but I like the simple things like knowing I will get a break/lunch no matter how crazy things are. It's a much better lifestyle overall, I would never go back to the floor!

I will offer two comments, 1. I went to nursing school with some scrub techs, and their clinical experience was not recognized very much. They were frustrated they still had to "shadow," a circulator during a few clinical rotations in the same OR's they scrubbed in. Gotta play the game, ya know? 2. I am in the military and in the Army it is always an RN who commands SPD/CMS/Sterile processing.

That's pretty wild about having the patient come in the room with all that commotion. Our anesthesia providers like it completely quiet with as little movement possible from when the patient arrives to when they are induced. The rational they use is to prevent laryngospasm and losing their airway. Luckily I work in a facility that rarely voices concern about turnovers. Does anesthesia usually sedate your patients prior to bringing them to the OR? Ours usually have some versed on board and they usually don't remember coming back to the OR.

At this time, a new arrival here will not know where they will go (Bethesda va. Ft. Belvoir) when BRAC occurs.

Yes the drive can be very bad from VA. But if you are a nurse at WRAMC on day shift, you can only get parking if you arrive NLT 0600, and there is very little traffic during that window. I can make it from my friend's house in Falls Church to WRAMC in 20 minutes for a day shift. And if you work a 12 hour shift, you will leave after the biggest rush of traffic. IMO it's worth the higher quality of neighborhoods/housing in VA to make this trip vs. living closer in MD. Housing allowance depends on your rank and family situation. A single new 2LT BAH will be something like $1680 with it going up to around $1980 when you get 1LT. You also get 200+ bucks for BAS. I know the numbers are higher if you are married with children. It is a good amount of money and it is tax free.

Meeting with the "Chief Nurse" is more of an internal issue that you wouldn't deal with until you are already working at a military facility. Their involvement with your day to day work life would vary depending on where you work, but if it's a large hospital you would rarely interact with someone of this rank. I only ever saw mine during orientation, when I wanted a signature for a specialty course, and at various events/ceremonies....which is appropriate.

In regards to ROTC: You should find out if the school you are interested in is a PNE (partner in nursing education). If this is the case, you will apply directly for a nursing scholarship, and be in a seperate pool from the other cadets who are competing for branches/scholarship selections. I would not suggest doing the ROTC option unless this is the case. My school was a PNE and there were several benefits to this: I was promised a slot in the school of nursing (300+ applicants for 120 slots) as long as I met the requirements, more book money, and my scholarship was locked in, as long as I went through all the ROTC motions. The nursing school slot was a huge advantage since many of my colleagues who were working on their pre-reqs had to wait an extra year to get in (some of them had a higher GPA than I). Direct Commission: I didn't really even know about this until after I commissioned through ROTC, and when I did, I found my self scratching my head wondering why I went through all the ROTC training when I could have direct commissioned. When it comes down to it, I couldn't afford school up front so ROTC was the right choice. But the direct commission seems like a pretty sweet deal if it works out for you. There are some nice incentives, some people get a garunteed first assigment location choice, which is really nice compared to ROTC-land where you have to compete for the nice locations.