surginurse

Hello...I am an RN who relocated from Baltimore to Vegas. What a shock! Things are very different here. I was an OR nurse, till I came here. After 18 months working in this town I left the OR for a claims examiner position. In my opinion, the nursing shortage is much worse here. The nurses are unionized (which is a whole new concept for me), and I hear St. Rose has the best union packages, in town. I have been to the Sienna campus, and it is nice. One of my friends worked there (in the OR) and her only reason for leaving was too much on-call, as she has a baby at home. Be prepared for some terrible traffic, and (even worse) terrible seafood! LOL! Oh how I miss those steamed crabs! I heard St. Rose's new campus (San Martin) will have a neuro program. They are scheduled to open next month. That's all I know about St. Rose...hope it helps a little.

Oh how true... I taught an ACLS class to a bunch of new residents the last week of June. 2 weeks later, I had a spleenectomy, and guess who comes to my room for rounds? I asked for the chief surgical resident (whom I knew from the OR), and told him I didn't mind them doing "rounds" but no-one but him was allowed to touch me!!!

Am I missing something? Doesn't your facility use preference cards of some type? Every OR I've worked in had some type of preference card system. All the "little differences" should be noted on the preference cards. If they stay in your notebook, or in someone's head, how is anyone else supposed to use this knowledge?

I believe the going rate is around $27-29/hour, maybe more with experience. I don't know much about the working environment, as I lived in Baltimore. My grandfather had his chemo there, once a month, for several months, and I would go with him. The staff were wonderful to him. They didn't seem overly stressed, and had plenty of time to spend with him. My grandmother, aunt, and uncle still live there, and they rave about this hospital. The only other hospital even close, is Atlantic General. They only have a handful of beds, as it's usually a stop-over to another hospital. This one is much less busy in the winter, but; very hectic in the summer. I have a friend who just went to work in their OR, and so far, she loves it. Atlantic General is located in Berlin, which is about 20 minutes from Salisbury, where Penninsula General is. So sorry I can't provide you with more details. Best of luck to you. Maryland is a beautiful state, and there's lots to see and do, especially for families. I really miss it, as I recently relocated to Las Vegas. I won't miss the snow, tho! LOL!! Make sure you try the steamed crabs!

So sorry, I don't know their ratios, I worked at a different hospital, in the OR. I did my OR Consortium at Carroll County General, and it seemed like a very friendly place to work. It was just too far from where I lived.

Any of the Medstar hospitals have a good critical care course. They are Good Samaritan, Harbor Hospital, Franklin Square Hospital, and Union Memorial Hospital.

Penninsula General Hospital is located on the Eastern Shore of the state. This is approximately 2 1/2 hours from Baltimore. The communities nearby that hospital are Salisbury, Berlin, and Ocean Pines. Ocean Pines is the nicest, but further away ( around 30 minutes). The big benefit is you're really close to the shore, and can enjoy the summers (just the traffic sucks during the summer).

Villa Julie College, and Notre Dame both have evening programs, and accept transfer of credit.

Hi, You didn't mention your area of practice. Hagerstown is in the northwest part of the state. Carroll County General Hospital is one of the closest to Hagerstown, and a short commute from PA. The average salary is around $27-29/hr.

Yes, this was a larger OR ( 10 inpatient/ 6 outpatient). I was referring to add-ons for the same day. The committee reviews add-on cases, on a monthly basis (those already performed). If they determine that a specific surgeon is adding "emergent" cases they feel are not really emergent, they address this with the surgeon, who then must be referred to the Chief, if (and only if) the charge nurse and anesthesiologist deem the potential add-on not to be of an emergent nature. It has nothing to do with "picking and choosing". It has been a great way to reduce the number of surgeons who manipulate the system to obtain OR time for their own convenience. This has reduced the amount of revenue spent on paying overtime, and leaves the team available for true emergencies. No more explaining to a surgeon that his crani will have to wait until the "emergent" lap chole is finished. We have one team in house, from 7pm - 7 am, for emergencies, and no on-call team. So sorry for the mix-up.

It's no fun being on the other side of the bed rail. I had a spleenectomy for a splenic aneurysm, 5 years ago. I was greatful for the amazing care I received. I especially appreciated those that explained things, and didn't just assume that I knew because I'm a nurse. We must treat our patients as if we would our family. The payoff is priceless.

Our facility utilizes a "neutral zone" to prevent sharps injuries. The docs put used sharps on the zone (usually a magnetic mat), and do not directly hand used sharps to the scrubbed person.

We recently completed the big changeover from hand-written to computerized charting. We use the PICIS system. At first, it was difficult. Some of our nurses had never used a computer, and all attended a class just for that. Our computers are basically a laptop, on a movable cart, that can be lowered when sitting, and raised when standing, as well as unplugged, and moved around the OR suite, even moved from the suite, to another area. Once everone was used to them, it was great. Charting was much faster, especially when templates are used. The drop-down menus were easy to navigate, to change info. We did create a position for an IT Resource Nurse, whose job is to keep all the preference cards, templates, etc. up-to-date. She also now precepts new staff to the system, and assists anyone having problems with the system. Our charts print out in PACU, and there is a computer there, in case of last minute charting. Our turnover rates did not change, but; there were many other advantages. Billing was much easier, and more accurate. We could track surgeon's actual times, not their "stated" times. Pretty much anything we needed to track could be obtained quickly.

Check with all the hospitals in your area, directly. I worked at my facility for 2 years before I found out we had a perioperative program! With the current shortage most bigger hospitals have training programs, or are fast developing one!

Crocs are the best. They sell them at the mall for $39.99. I also found them online for the same price, just doing a Yahoo search.