PediOR

I dunno...his behavior was inappropriate but it sounds like he was impatient with you because you are newer. You would be totally justified going the behavior reporting route, but you might have a better working relationship with this surgeon in the future if you address it yourself. I had a surgeon who would yell at me sometimes...finally one day I yelled back at him. It only took that one time. Not only did I never have a problem with him yelling again, we have a fun and friendly working relationship.

Thanks, PatMac...that's where I'm hoping to land eventually!

I actually did work on the floor for a year and a half right out of school, but it was with adults. My SO talked me down after I was so upset...said they probably wanted me to take care of some RSV kids and other typical peds problems that we don't see in surgery. I guess I can see that...I just get tired of people acting like OR nurses aren't "real nurses." One time I was doing ACLS with some ICU nurses and they asked me if I knew where to put the EKG leads.

Ok I just need to vent...I contacted a professor from an acute care PNP program and was told that my almost five years of peds OR experience was "not sufficient for success in the program." The website said 6 months of pediatric inpatient experience was needed. So theoretically, someone with 6 months of peds meg-surg experience would be considered before I would. Seriously!? I feel like I have been exposed to way more in the OR than I ever was on the floor (a year of adult inpatient). I didn't even know what an art line was when I started in OR. If they want critical care experience then ok, fine...but to require acute care experience and then not count OR makes me feel like chopped liver. We do Norwoods, for pete's sake, but you would think from the e-mail I got that I just pick my nose all day. The irony is that I often answer pages for the surgeons when they're scrubbed in, and a lot of times I end up "triaging" questions from floor nurses. Most of the time my instincts ("trust me, you really don't want to interrupt him with this") are dead on.

I do have some experience with adults but I prefer working with kids. It's hard to decide between acute care NP and FNP...I didn't realize that some states don't allow FNPs to assist in surgery. Although that might not be the case with an RNFA certification. I think I'm more concerned with being well-rounded and marketable overall.

I've been circulating for almost 4 years and I would love to do something like that! I thought surgeons only hired PAs though! Can you tell me about your master's program and where you work?