TXPediORRN

For a brand new OR nurse, 11 months isn't that unusual. We have new OR nurses spend time in the classroom where they do periop 101 and then they spend one month in each of our seven services (they do not do CV or transplant). They circulate for two weeks and scrub for two weeks. They also do a few off shifts and then orient to their shift. Ours is less than 11 months but it is still lengthy.

I don't think floor nursing experience is required. I start IVs all the time and I'm at a teaching hospital with residents and fellows. I would google "behavioral interview questions for nursing positions ". Many places use this interview style, including the hospital I'm at now. It will help if you can get an idea of what you could be in for. Good luck.

i should clarify that our transplant team is strictly for the recipient.

Yikes! I think I would go crazy waiting.

Good luck. Did they give you a time frame for their decision? How long since your last interview?

Wow Argo that's amazing. The highest bonus our director heard was $200. Do you mind telling me where this was and if it was all transplants including lung and heart? You can PM me if you prefer. Thanks.

Thank you for your reply. We're also staffed 24/7 with three teams and three days of the week it's covered by that staff. Out transplant team covers Thursday and Friday nights and all of Saturday and Sunday as well as holidays. Many years ago our surgeon wanted and got a dedicated team. We're like a little family. Even though staff is trained and capable, our group works very well together and things just go smoothly. They prefer their dedicated team and I don't blame them one bit. Our director has gotten input from other hospitals and I'm amazed at the incentives out there for other hospital's transplant teams. We're hoping to do something similar with our group. Thanks again for the response.

Thanks for the response. We started out taking only liver call and it was this way for many years. Only recently have we picked up kidneys for the precise reason you stated. The surgeon that does them likes her team :)

Ours runs very smoothly actually. We have four RNs and four STs covering liver and kidney. Last year we did 35 livers and 15 kidneys. We sign up for call about six weeks out and it gets covered. Our team works together very well and steps up to help each other out. Our surgeon is proposing incentive pay for us so I was hoping other transplant centers would chime in.

Thanks for responding. I'm surprised there aren't more places with a dedicated team. We're a busy transplant center and lately, it's gotten crazy busy.

Thanks for your response. Several years ago our director of transplant surgery lobbied for a dedicated OR team. I think we're in the minority.

Hi everyone. This is my first post. I'm curious to see if other hospitals have teams for liver and kidney transplants. Our hospital does and we take call and also do these cases when they happen during the work week as well. If your hospital has a special team for transplants, are the members compensated differently than those taking regular call? I appreciate your input. Thanks.