ornurse12

It's never too early to think about your future options! Glad to hear that you're thinking about your interests and goals so early along. I honestly just was looking for an OR job and applied to the hospital in town that was hiring a couple of nurses for the position. That's a pretty lame way of telling my job hunting story, but that's really just it. The OR I worked at was in need of nurses and very willing to train new, willing workers. The OR I currently work at only hires nurses with experience in the OR, though, all depends on the facility. I live in the Midwest, so things may be different in California, but it seems like nurses are in high demand everywhere anymore, so hopefully you won't have a hard time landing a job that you want. I do think it's a great idea to see about getting your foot in the door though shadowing and precepting. You may find it a more difficult to shadow or precept in the OR compared to the floor since we usually want less traffic in a room and less people to contaminate the field. But I bet that if you precept in a place that's actively looking to hire, you may find that they'd be happy to precept as that would be some free training. With anything it never hurts to try! Even if a position says that "experience is preferred", apply anyway! Worst thing that could happen is that you'd get denied. Also, if you can't get into the OR to precept or whatnot, going to pre op/same day surgery would be another good option - it's always good to see the whole of the picture. If you have to get another nursing job right out of school, that's just fine! You may just find an area that is "your" area of nursing that you didn't expect to really enjoy. Plus, you'll find plenty of OR nurses who worked on the floor or elsewhere before changing on over to the OR (and then maybe leaving a few years down the road to pursue another interest). Nursing is so versatile, there's an area for just about everyone.

Hey! Just wanted to say that I hope you're still working towards getting into OR nursing! I didn't go into the OR at first (even though there was an OR that was hiring!) and part of me regrets that, because I knew in school that the OR was awesome. I think that the OR is a good place for new grads to start. Like many people have said, it's like starting from ground zero, so having floor experience really isn't too much of an advantage. What I will say is that it's good to know the expected or potential of patients to know how to give better care - taking care of post op patients or working in a skilled nursing facility can help with teaching (since some patients will ask post op questions when you go to get them) and can help you improve your care in the OR (like knowing the ramifications of pressure injuries and infections, knowing what recovery is like). But you've probably already seen a good amount of that in clinicals. Surgeons may yell, but it's okay, you'll just brush it off and develop some thick skin. You'll run into the occasional one with a god- like complex who is just a jerk most of the time, but those have been far and few between. It also really depends on how your OR handles surgeons who behave poorly. I worked in one OR that let surgeons get away with murder, but the next OR I worked in (the current OR I'm at), it's not really tolerated. At the end of the day, the yelling just doesn't matter. I would have stayed at my first OR job, we just moved due to my husband's work. You also don't need to have a super aggressive or extroverted personality to work in the OR. I've worked with all sorts of people. Just be yourself, stand your ground when you need to, stick up for patient safety always, and be willing to learn and be flexible. I worked in long term care for 4 years before going to the OR, worked in an OR for a year, moved and found a job in a clinic for a year, moved again and got an OR job again (husband was in the military and the job choices were limited! - thus the clinic). The learning curve is steep when first going into the OR, but getting back into it is like riding a bike, so know that you can do other things and do them successfully if you want to leave the OR in the future. Best wishes!

Hello all, I find myself in a long-term dilemma. Here's the spiel...prepare yourself: I have worked in LTC since becoming a nurse (which is not long, just a little over 1.5 years) and have worked in the same nursing home since I was a CNA. I have therefore developed some attachment to the residents and staff and feel very comfortable in my shoes there. Recently, I have thought often about starting in acute care nursing but am divided in my decisions. I would like to gain the experience of working in acute care and have that on my resume as I will be moving a few states over once I get married in another year so I can at least have more options for jobs (I can see if I would like to stay in LTC or not). A fast-paced environment greatly interests me and I love learning new things and applying that knowledge, so I think acute care would be appropriate for me (even though I am running endlessly in my current job in LTC). The areas that most interest me (after having those experiences in clinicals and precepting) are the OR (specifically SDS) and the ICU. Common desires, it seems, yet not necessarily obtainable at this point. And I have a niggling passion for wounds. I also would be glad just to have some med/surg experience. There are a few hospitals within a half-hour of me with the majority having 20-25 beds and one hospital that has 150 (with a bad rep to go along with the numbers). One small hospital had a great environment while I was doing clinicals and I have often thought about working there, but am concerned about staying busy as sometimes they have less than 5 patients. It would be a wise choice career-wise, I think in the long-run, but I am young and have plenty of years to gain experience. Right now, I'm concerned about this change, though, due to security with my current job and great hours and have considered going to PRN in acute care, but am then concerned about not getting the "full" experience in acute care. I'm also concerned about big changes until after the summer when my fiance is to deploy--I'd like to spend time with him (he's a few states over, so planning is needed) and not be concerned about working wacky hours and miss seeing him (once he deploys it really makes no difference what hours I work because there is a time difference and he'll work rotating shifts...there is no "good" hours to match up with that). I also am in school getting my BSN, and coincidentally, the end of my program wraps up around the time my fiance deploys. Finally, I'd like to be close to where I work (mainly due to convenience and being able to make it into work in our terrible winters), so some moving may be needed dependent on where I decide would be the best bet. It would probably be a big change. Right now I have comfort and security during a time of busyness, but I would like some experience for personal gain and future opportunities. This is a personal question that I really just need to think on for myself, but I keep on going back and forth (thus the time of posting as my mind cannot rest just yet), so some opinions and advice would be more than welcome to help put my mind at ease. Do you think that less than a year's experience as full-time in an acute setting would be a worthwhile endevour or should I be starting now? I see a lot of times where hospitals post "2 years acute experience required"...yet I know that people with less are able to get those jobs. I would hope that a willingness to learn and a show of competency would get you somewhere even if you didn't have those magical two years. I often think that the current stability is well needed at this time of my life and that adventure and experience can wait until my life has slowed down and I can actually focus on change rather than stress over it. I have the opportunity to do clinicals in one of those smaller hospitals this summer for my BSN, so hopefully that will help straighten things out. I know at some point in the near future I will be making the change to a different area of nursing, but I don't know if right now is appropriate. It all boils down to: should I stay, should I go, or should I wait? Thoughts (and thank-you to anyone who actually took the time to read that mess!)?