stephen22

Well there you have it.. that's something I have learned in this exchange (the difference between a scrub nurse and a circulating nurse as well as their roles). I absolutely believe their job consists of more than writing on a board and taking commands but I simply chose to describe it in that way to differentiate between the two in order for your question to be answered clearly. I agree with doing some more shadowing to see what the different roles of a nurse is within the OR. The most important part for me at this point is the fact that previous to this experience, I had ZERO interest in the OR. This has (at the very least) given me a greater perspective and ignited a ton of interest in the OR which I did not have previous to this.

BTW, Thank you for your long response! That was very helpful!

To answer your first question, there was one ST, two scrub nurses (one of which was sitting on the side writing on the board and taking commands, the other was over the mayo), a PA, resident and attending.

So I am a 22 year old student nearly done with my pre-reqs with the track to go to nursing school. I paid for my past education by being a fabricator/welder which I enjoyed doing but it wasn't my long term path. I have been on this path for the past year and a half but then I had a new experience. This Thursday (2/2) I shadowed a CRNA just to learn more about the job and see if it was something I may be interested in for the long term. So long story short I spent about 9 hours in the OR at University of Minnesota Children's Hospital watching a full knee replacement, a couple Arthroscopic procedures and a Bronchoscopy. I found the CRNA's job really interesting, but I was absolutely ENTHRALLED with the surgeries. It was absolutely one of the best days of my life and seeing the process was one of the most fascinating moments of my life. I've been loving my science classes but I believe this day turned my heated passion for medicine to a roaring fire. The attending could tell I was highly interested in what was going on and made a point to explain some of the things they were doing. This leads to my question. How much involvement do scrub nurses have with surgeries? Is there ways to go through extra certifications to get more hands on responsibility in an OR? Do NP's have the ability to assist with major surgeries in the OR? Now for the question I am nervous about. Does this mean I am more cut out for pursuing med school? Being a "normal" physician doesn't appeal to me all that much, but seeing that Orthopedic surgeon work was more motivating than just about anything i've experienced. Would love to hear some of your thoughts and questions. Im hoping to get down from this mountaintop feeling so I can make some serious decisions.

Im 22 and I have a year of pre-reqs/couple random courses left. If all goes as planned ill be graduated and ready to roll around my 25th birthday.

Hey Folks. As this is my first post here I will start with my introduction and a little about how I got to where I am, but skip that first few paragraphs if you would like to get involved in only the discussion question I pose. I am a 22 year old returning college student going for a bachelors degree in nursing. I went to college for a semester immediately out of high school but didn't really know why I was there and it reflected in my grades (C's across the board). I quit school for about two and a half years, learned a trade (welding) and worked hard while trying to figure life out. I learned a lot about myself in this time such as I love being inside a hospital, I love caring for people when they are hurting, sick, and troubled in general. I then decided about a year and a bit ago I wanted to pursue nursing so I enrolled in a community college to get the remainder of my generals complete and get some of my pre-nursing science courses done (this community college is known for having a high quality science department). I started full time January of this year (2016) and was able to work part time to sustain myself (in reference to cost of living). I now have a little bit more intense classes (chem/bio) so I had to work less than I was able to in order to get the grades I am getting now. I find my general focus shifting less towards work and more towards learning as much as I can at this stage of academics. I absolutely LOVE learning about biology/chemistry and just getting a taste for understanding the science behind what causes certain diseases, sickness, etc. My professors see this passion in me and I just got an award from my biology teacher for outstanding student (big deal? maybe not, but I'm very thankful for it anyways). I mention this to reflect how important this all has become for me. I am transferring to the university where I plan to attend nursing school (currently rated 3rd best in Minnesota) this upcoming Spring 2017 and I plan on applying to their accelerated program which starts in May of 2018 and is done by September of 2019. I am taking out loans to pay for nearly everything school related as I already have a small car payment, cell phone, insurance (insurance is crazy expensive for a single 22 yr old male), some medical bills, little unsecured debt and general day to day cost of living expenses. I can't rely on any money from family and I can't live with family to help cut the amount of loans I take out. Obviously some of my expenses will go down once I am under campus housing, but truly they will be hidden in the loans I take out for school. ———————————————- Okay this is where I am actually getting into my question/discussion. I want to get the best grades possible these next three semesters, not only so I am guaranteed a spot in nursing school but I want to get more scholarship opportunities, have a deeper understanding of what I'm dealing with and potentially attend grad school one day. I struggle with balancing work/school and still being very successful in my classes. I guess it comes down to advice from people who have been in my place and had this struggle. A couple facts to keep in mind when responding to my post -My GPA from three years ago was around 2.4 which bogs me down for scholarships. (grades are now much better) -I have very little school debt currently -I moved out of the house immediately after high school and have been 100% financially independent since then which has made it difficult to save money for this time of my life -How do I maintain my success and still keep my head above water financially? Are loans the answer? -Stellar grades or potentially thousands less in school loans? Do I have to choose? -How do I determine what is a happy median for finances compared to academic success? -How much debt is too much debt? Im excited to hear some responses and maybe just get some good discussion going. Thanks for reading my post and I look forward to getting some great information from you all! -Stephen