Hello123456

Same boat as Snarf. I passed FNP ANCC without too much studying. There were way more "soft" skill questions on the exam regarding how to approach patients of different cultures than I expected. It was almost 50% of the exam.

I was in the same boat, I hated med surg and ICU rotations when I was a student and chose OR as a new grad. It was the best decision I have ever made. It is true that you lose "nursing skills" such as NG tube/vents/hanging blood etc...the motor memory associated with those tasks mainly. However, if your goals are to: 1) stay in OR 2) become a nurse practitioner 3) PhD/DNP, not having those skills that you typically use on the floors will not hurt you (they were absolutely irrelevant to my career progression into advanced practice). But if you want to go into med surg/ICU later, it will impact your ability to leverage your skill set to hiring managers. That said, it is possible for a manager to hire an OR nurse into ICU/med surg (I have many friends who have done just that at UCLA Medical Center), as long as you are open to training and additional in-services. Also, my friends who successfully transitioned from OR into ICU applied during off-season hiring (ie: when new grads were not interviewing) when they knew of recent resignations in ICU. Good luck! I hope this helps!

I would just apply online. There a lot of openings in all of the SF operating rooms. Here are some of the the places my friends or myself have worked as an OR nurse in SF/Bay Area: 1. Kaiser - (+) top tier pay grade, (+) benefits are great, (+) strong nurse advocacy groups (ie: always on strike), (-) surgeons may not be the best/innovative/thought leader in their field, (-) outcomes/performance based bonuses - OR start and end times are very very important, (-) education/training of new employees is not as comprehensive as other hospitals 2. UCSF - (+) great training/education, (+) supportive staff, (+) management is supportive and informed of needs, (+) top surgeons/thought leaders in their specialties, (-) compensation is lower than Kaiser, (-) part of UC system so your income/salary is posted online for anyone to access at anytime 3. Veterans Affairs Hospital - (+) government benefits, (+) slower pace - not as rushed as Kaiser with OR times, (-) compensation is generally low 4. Stanford Hospital - (+) mid to high range compensation, (+) great training/education, (+) supportive staff and management, (+) top surgeons/thought leaders, (-) commute to Bay Area I would just apply online and follow-up call 2 weeks after your submission (call or e-mail the OR manager).

I was referring to the original author's concern regarding exit opportunities in OR versus ICU, not "critical care". In any case, all schools require "critical care" experience. However, some schools define "critical care" broadly to include ER/OR/PACU etc. You can google this information and there are websites that list these programs. One program that comes to mind is Duke CRNA (not an ivy like Penn/Columbia/Yale nursing, but it is still considered a tier 1 university among most people). I hope this helps!

I was referring to ICU experience specifically, not critical care. "Critical care" experience is always necessary. However, some schools define "critical care" broadly (some will consider ER, OR, PACU as critical care). DUKE CRNA Admissions Requirements | Duke School of Nursing

I have a similar experience (PhD while working with the help of tuition/fees/benefits covered by the university). I 100% advocate for getting the nursing experience in psych (working part-time/per-diem) while working on your PhD. I did it and it was not a struggle at all. The only issues I had were the nursing school administrators' negative perception of working while getting a PhD. IGNORE THEM! I assume that none of them have the personal experience working while getting a PhD, so they have no credibility on the matter. You will have so much opportunity/marketability when you graduate with a PhD, have specialized clinical experience (unmet needs in psych and gero are growing rapidly), and being under 30 years old will give you a huge advantage. Good luck!

Great questions and I hope I can give you some insight on the topic. My first job was as a new grad nurse was in the OR (also with a 2 year contract in an academic hospital in SoCal). I am now an FNP with certification as NP surgical first assistant. I work in orthopedic surgery (clinic and operating room) and also work for an NFL team. I have only worked as an OR nurse (never med surg/ICU - I have always hated the idea of working on the floors, just a personal preference). While working in med surg/ICU is the traditional path towards becoming an FNP and CRNA, it is not for everybody and it is certainly not necessary. There are FNP and CRNA programs that do not require med surg/ICU experience (actually pretty prestigious ones). Because there is such a shortage of OR nurses (especially ones that can scrub in specialties ortho/neuro/cardiac), I was able to re-negotiate the 2 year contract. This was because I became independent in scrubbing ortho/neuro/spine procedures 6-months into the new grad program and my supervisor wanted to retain me because of this skill. You also have to understand that the "2 year contract" is sometimes used by hospital administrators as a benchmark in new grad education. It is assumed that the more "successful" a new grad education program is, the more new grads will be retained after 2 years. Sometimes supervisors' bonuses are tied to 2 year retention of new grads. So with that said, after the 6-months I asked my supervisor if I could switch to night shift/weekends per-diem because I really wanted the trauma experience (but really just used this excuse to go back to school during the day). After 2 years of going to school during the day for the FNP program and working as a night shift OR nurse, I finished the FNP. Because the per-diem status is still viewed as "2 year" retention, it was a win-win for my supervisors' interests and mine. Also the per-diem status gave me the opportunity to take 3-5 days off whenever I had to study for mid-terms, final exams, and fulfill clinical hour requirements. This was a key strategy in achieving my goal. 1. differentiate your skills from other employees - become good at scrubbing specialty cases with "difficult" surgeons 2. leverage your specialized skill to get what you want from your manager 3. take your managers' perspective/goals/incentives into consideration I have never regretted choosing OR nursing (although the culture is very challenging and tough to get used to with the constant bullying, verbal abuse, etc. etc.). You need to focus on your goals and not let the culture get to you. Additionally, there is a high demand for OR nurses (who can scrub/first assist) and you will always have job opportunities with at least 1 year experience. Lastly, the compensation for OR nursing can be quite high (+200k in my 2nd year as a nurse - mostly from taking all the on-call holidays/weekends/nights). I hope this helps! Good luck :)