MamaCheese

There is a huge learning curve in the OR but once you have a reasonable level of comfort in there (usually takes about 1 year) then it's a great place to work. Most people who go to work in the OR never leave. That has to tell you something right there. I've been in the OR for 4 years now and I will never, ever go back to floor nursing. I get to focus on one patient at a time, the teamwork that goes on is amazing, I always get a lunch break, and most days get a morning and afternoon break as well. I :redbeathe my job 99% of the time.

Our facility is unionized so we get the same pay as any other RN in our hospital according to the wage scale. Ditto what others said about the OT and call. I can always pick up extra hours or call if I need to make some extra $$$.

We've been using one for almost a year now. On the front is an area for either the floor or admitting RN's to fill out, the surgeon, anesthesia, and the holding area RN. Under that is an area for a pre-block time-out. Under that is a large STOP sign. Patient is not to proceed to the OR without everything checked off, signed, dated, and timed. The back of the sheet contains the actual pre-procedure time-out and another short checklist for before leaving the OR (after the procedure is done) and for signing the patient over to PACU. There was a lot of complaining when we rolled these out but it had to be done. Now everyone is used to doing them and it's just part of our daily routine.

You can try to find a OR Nurse Residency program sponsored by a local hospital or take the AORN Periop 101 program through a local college/university. The college course is pricey and you'll be paying out of pocket, the hopital sponsored program is payed for by your facility and you'll be on the clock making money while taking it. Or you can just apply like crazy and hope someone will hire a nurse with no OR experience but that's an unlikely scenario. Sadly, the residency programs are hard to come by. Good luck.

We pull our meds before each case. Our Pyxis is in our core so it just takes an extra minute to get what we need. Our management would go nuts if they saw meds outside of rooms pulled with the cases.

If you're not having trouble with the modules I wouldn't worry about it. I thought the whole course and final were far easier than NCLEX. Good luck:)

We're staffed 24/7 and our shifts are pretty equally divided between 8s, 10s and 12s.

We use the same drape as Argo, the absorbable floor mats, and puddle suckers. But in the end there is always a mess. The drape works well but like Argo said if they don't do a good job of keeping the pouch open you get a lot of fluid flowing right past it.

Is the community college course the AORN Periop 101? Does it give you clinical hours in the OR? If so, it should give you an advantage when applying for OR positions. Hiring someone with no OR experience is a pretty big risk for hospitals. The orientation for the OR is long and costly and if they hire someone totally green they don't know if their investment in you is going to pay off. Our OR Residency program at our hospital typically loses at least 1/2 of its orientees by the time they hit the floor on their own.

Check out the post from IsseyM in this thread: https://allnurses.com/operating-room-nursing/circulating-222321.html Much of it may not make sense now but it will soon. Other than that just take it one day at a time. I was precepted by different people almost every day. It helped to absorb everything I could from each different preceptor. They don't want to here "but so-and-so did it like this yesterday". Unless they are putting the patient in danger or violating policy then just go with the flow and do it their way. It truly does take an entire year to have a decent level of comfort in the OR. I just passed my 3-year mark and I still learn something new almost every day. I can truly say that I love my job about 90% of the time and I think that's pretty rare these days. Good luck :redpinkhe

Until you've seen a bead of sweat roll off someone's forehead and onto the surgical field I don't think you can fully appreciate the need to keep the heat down in the room.

I'm not saying you have to, I'm saying it will increase your chances of being hired into an OR. I don't know of any hospitals that will hire an inexperienced OR nurse unless they themselves are offering the program or you've already done a Periop program somewhere else.

I was able to observe for two days during nursing school. I loved it!!! I was lucky enough to get into a periop residency program at my hospital about 2 years after I graduated. No regrets!!!

Usually only if they are offering an in-house periop/residency program which redies you to work in their OR. The other route you can take is enrolling in a Periop program at a university. That route is time consuming and pricey but it will probably get you where you want to be.

I address all the residents by thier first name and all attendings by Dr. even if told to do otherwise.