Chocolate39

Hi everyone, Any advice on coping with burn out from work? I don't know if this is temporary or if I need to apply for a different job and leave the OR. I have been an OR nurse for 16 months now and this is my first job out of nursing school. Things I enjoy about my job: Observing amazing surgeries Being able to scrub Helping surgeons operate and solve problems during surgery Working with a team Great managers Great nurse co-workers My work schedule Not having to deal with family or rude patients Things I don't enjoy: Working with rude surgeons Being a Circulator RN All of the heavy lifting and moving of heavy machinery Being pressured to have faster turn overs Feeling like a maid when I'm circulating Sometimes feeling ignored from the team as if my role is irrelevant when I'm circulating I've thought about going back to school and becoming a nurse practitioner. Perhaps working as a RN first assist. I have also thought about taking an RN job in a dermatology practice and receive training on how to provide facial aesthetic injectable treatments. I just don't know what career path is right for me. I want a well paying job without any of the stress, to help people/patients feel better, and not having to cater to any doctor.

This is so helpful thank you so much! After reading this post I realized that I definitely want to work in the ICU. It sounds like the OR is similar to M/S in that they're both task oriented. And I want to be able to look at my patients labs, providers notes, and do in depth assessments. I appreciate your feedback!

Hey everyone, I'm currently an operating room RN in a level one trauma center. I've decided that I want to go back to school and become a nurse practitioner. However, I feel like I need to get some experience out there on the floor before I apply to grad school since OR nursing is so different than all of the other specialties. Is there anyone out there that has gone from OR nurse to floor or vice versa? What are some of the challenges I will face and how can I adapt? Also how can I present myself in an interview to have a fair chance of getting a job with only OR nursing on my resume?

Hi everyone! I graduated nursing school December 2016 and I've been working as an operating room RN in a level one trauma center for almost a year. When I first started nursing school, surgery is all I was interested in. I was so intrigued by the OR environment and knew I wanted to be an OR nurse. However, my interests and goals have changed since then. I see patients who end up getting surgeries for medical diagnosis that are preventable and addressed in primary care. I would love to be more involved in primary care and patient education. I do not find that I'm getting enough of that in the OR. I want to go back to school and become a nurse practitioner! My concern is whether being an OR nurse will be sufficient experience for an FNP program? I know a lot of people think OR nursing is very different than all the other specialities (which it is), but I do have some of those nursing skills that apply to other floors. I work closely with a team everyday in surgery, I am an expert at doing foley catheters, I am a quick problem solver (time is crucial in the OR and the circulator helps resolve problems to keep surgery running smoothly.), and I am a quick learner. My nursing assessments involve looking up pt medical history and surgical history, labs, allergies, and pre-op checklist. Skin integrity is assessed after surgery to make sure positioning did no harm. I assess drains and incisions placed immediately after surgery. I am constantly learning! For example today I assisted in a lumbar drain placement and learned how to set up for one. I would like some advice from those of you who are FNPs based on your experience do you think I should find a part time job on a floor to further my learning and have a better chance at getting accepted into a FNP program?

Hi everyone! During my nursing internship I was taught that SCDs should be on prior to anesthesia putting the patient to sleep. I cannot remember the rational behind this, but it had something to do with excitability and maybe higher chance of a DVT during that time? I tried to find evidence based articles around this topic, but haven't had much luck. Instead I have found research that suggests the opposite, SCD placement can happen at any time during surgery...

Hi everyone! The OR is my first job out of school and I have been in the OR for 10 months now. At first, I found OR nursing really intriguing because there was so much I didn't know and it was challenging for me. However, now I'm eager to learn more and grow more as an RN and I feel like I'm loosing a lot of bedside skills and knowledge about meds/diseases that I learned in nursing school. I love the OR, but I am thinking about my future and eventually I'd like to go back to school and become a nurse practitioner. I want to work on the floor or even in a nursing home, but I don't want to lose my current job. What if I don't like my new job and regret losing my current job? What if I don't get accepted into grad school in the future? I don't know what the best solution is for me. Perhaps I can work as resource in the OR and pick up another part time? Not sure. Would appreciate any advice! Are there any OR nurses out there that have gone from OR to floor nursing? If so, what specialty did you switch to and what OR nurse skills did you mention in your interview in order to get the job? THANK YOU!

0Hi everyone! Are there any OR nurses out there that have gone from OR to floor nursing? If so, what specialty did you switch to and what OR nurse skills did you mention in your interview in order to get the job? The OR is my first job out of school and I have been in the OR for 10 months now. At first, I found OR nursing really intriguing because there was so much I didn't know and it was challenging for me. However, now I'm eager to learn more and grow more as an RN and I feel like I'm loosing a lot of bedside skills and knowledge about meds/diseases that I learned in nursing school. I love the OR, but I am thinking about my future and eventually I'd like to go back to school and become a nurse practitioner. That's why I want to work on the floor. I'm specifically interested in a cardiac med surg or step down unit! I loved learning about the cardiovascular system and want to develop nursing skills on the floor to help patients with cardiac conditions.

Hi everyone! I am a new grad nurse and I've been working in the operating room for 10 months now. I enjoyed working in the OR at the beginning because it was a totally new environment to me and I found it challenging. 10 months in and now I'm starting to get bored of doing the same tasks repeatedly. I find that in the OR I'm more busy dealing with equipment, supplies, charting, counting items, opening trays, etc. and less focused on my patient's medical history, lab results, etc. I miss interpreting lab values and assessing patients. In the OR the anesthesiologist/CRNA is the one who handles all of the patient's drips, IV's, and follows their labs closely. I thought about going back to school and becoming an acute nurse practitioner. But, I'm concerned about being able to find a Nurse Practitioner job in the future with no critical care RN experience. So, I would like to know if it is possible to go from OR nurse to floor nursing (Med-Surg, ICU, ED, etc.)? Or do you all think I should just apply to grad school with no floor nurse experience? Any advice would help! Thanks so much!

I'm having a hard time making a decision about what career path I should pursue. I'm currently a junior in college, and I have been accepted to nursing school. In high school there was a health occupation program that included a nursing program, and I did a lot of volunteer work in hospitals and patient transportation. I'm the first person in my family to go to college and all I knew is that I wanted to worked in the health field, in a hospital, help people, and that I love science. So I decided to pursue nursing and I took all of the prerequisites. After taking the human anatomy and physiology sequence I found that I'm passionate about learning more about the human organ systems. I specifically enjoyed working on case studies where we were given a patient scenario, and had to apply what we had learned to come up with a diagnoses. By that time I had already finished almost all of my nursing prerequisites. Also, I realized that nursing was more about "patient care" rather than "patient cure." I want to be able to be a part of a patient's diagnosing process rather than be the one who gives the patient the medication from the doctor's order. I took an interest in becoming a doctor because I want to keep learning about diseases, how we treat them, and the physiology behind it all. So now I'm stuck I don't know what to do! I have two weeks to decide. If I don't go to nursing school I risk losing the opportunity, and all my hard work. Because what if I don't get accepted to medical school and end up with a bachelor's in Biology with no job. My freshmen year in college I struggled financially and academically, and I failed a chemistry and biology course. But, I re-took the courses and came out earning A's. Right now my science GPA is a 4.0. However, those failed courses are still on my transcript/record. I don't know what to do. Any second opinion is appreciated. Anyone else ever had this problem?

I was thinking the same thing, except the job is at a nursing home and I was hoping to work as an R.N. in a hospital. I've also had a lot of experience volunteering at nursing homes and alongside CNA's in hospitals that I pretty much have a lot of experience as a CNA already. So I thought maybe taking the medical interpreter position would be a different experience, and unique.

I would be taking an exam to become a certified/credentialed interpreter, and then if I pass that exam I would attend orientation for the job position.

I've recently been accepted to nursing school, and I'm looking to gain health care experience because I know finding a job as a new grad R.N. can be hard. I got a offered two job opportunities, one as a CNA and the other as a Spanish Medical Interpreter. I am torn between the two, and don't know which job to choose. I think that both of these jobs would look good on my resume, and help me gain experience in the health field! Any suggestions as to which job would help me in the long run when I'm looking for a R.N. position? I would love to work in both, but I can't because of school.