mountaingrl

Dear smnurse, about 3 years ago I too tried to combine the PACU and same day nursing staff. It seemed like the logical thing to do at the time. Here is what I learned from that experience. 1. PACU is truly a critical care area and needs nurses with those skills. 2. "Some" of my same day nurses are very good "level 2" PACU nurses, ie they take the less critical patients. 3. It is not worth the headaches if you try and force nurses into an area they are uncomfortable with. I want all my nurse to love their jobs. I want them all to come into work every day with a positive attitude that enables them to give excellent patient care. I have told my nurses that cross training will be strictly voluntary from now on. However, those that choice not to cross train know that when their unit is slow they will be downstaffed, (an unfortunate reality in most hospitals ) For those that want to cross train, I make sure that their orientation is adequate and appropriate. Keep talking to your manager. Document when patient outcomes have suffered due to the staffing mix. Hard data is always a good thing! Good Luck!

Have you not been given a preceptor????? If not, you really should have a talk with your director! There is no way you should be on your own in any OR setting for a very long time. Our orientation process lasts 3 months for nurses with experience. As an OR director, I have only taken on a brand new grad 2x. The 1st time it worked out because the person had been working in Sterile Processing for 6 months and not only knew instrumentation, but had exposure to the OR setting. The 2nd time did not work out so well, I had to move that person to a different area. So, it is possible to do. Just don't try to do it alone, find someone you admire in the OR if you have to and ask them to be your preceptor if possible. Good Luck.

Hi, I have been the Director of Surgical Services of a 3 room OR for about 6 years. I also have PACU, DSU (preop and phase 2 postop area), and sterile processing. Turnover and start times have always been an issue, mostly due to the fact that surgeons and staff have their own idea of what those mean! I have heard of tying monetary incentives to both of these and to supply issues also. I have just joined a consulting group to help track some of this in hopefully a more meaningful way. Would love to have an on going discussion regarding the "special" issues surgical services have. Like PRODUCTIVITY!!!! Thanks. Jean-Marie

I let my staff interview the canidate. If they do not get a good feeling about the person, I usually do not hire them. In the OR, I can teach just about anything a person needs to know. The one thing I cannot teach is attitude. It is usually a gut feeling and it is usually right. If I am unsure, I ask them to come in and " work" along side my staff for a day or so. It lets the staff get to know that person, and lets the canidate see how the department functions. By the end of the day, you usually have a feel for whether that person is a good fit or not. It can also be a crap shoot! :)