NJRN1969

Thanks to those who have replied thus far. Yes, my employer offers tuition reimbursement. I've been taking masters classes towards a MSN in admin, but I keep thinking about the RNFA and how much I would enjoy that. I think the NP RNFA route is the most flexible, long term, but it's a huge amount of work to get there. Rose Queen, how are the RNFAs at your facility paid? Do they make a lot more, or just a few dollars? Alicia777, do you work for a hospital or a private practice? I'm glad you are enjoying the job!

Hi, this topic hasn't been posted about in a few years, so I was hoping to hear from some RNFAs ( RN first assists) about how the path has worked for them. I am an OR nurse with 5 years experience and CNOR. I scrub and circulate, but don't get to scrub as often as I'd like. I've always been interested in RNFA, but our hospital does not employ them. There are some independent RNFAs that come by sometimes for particular cases. A few nearby hospitals have staff RNFAs, and our surgeons are lobbying for our facility to hire one or two. So I was wondering, if you are an RNFA (or if you know how it works in your OR), - what are your thoughts on employee vs independent - if employee, are you only an RNFA, or do you fill in other nursing duties during down time? - is the pay significantly more? One nurse at my facility is going for it and plans to ask for a doubling of salary. Is that reasonable? Elsewhere on here I've seen $5/hour more. - do you think it would be that much better to be an NP with the RNFA? Lots more work to get there, of course, and huge expansion of scope of practice. But I'm 47, so it may be too long journey for me to make,lol I know this is long, but any insights anyone can share would be much appreciated!

I'm an OR nurse who getting fed up. I started where I am two years ago, right out of nursing school and went through a residency program. I'm definitely happy I chose the OR, but my workplace is going through some terrible times. We have a new manager who is clueless, we are losing good people every month and our pay is low for our area, so no experienced people have wanted to come take their places. We are now "taking call" two- three days a week, and unless that is an overnight call, you are definitely working. Does it make sense to try for one of the other nearby hospitals, or am I thinking the grass is always greener.