Questions...

[PACU queen]

I am possibly thinking of going to the OR.

1) How do the doctors treat newbies, whether new grads or not?

2) How does on call work? How much do you get paid? How often are you on call?

[TracyB,RN, RN]

1) Depends on the docs & how the facility allows docs to treat the staff

2) Again, depends on facility... Some places have rotating weekends, where you spend the entire weekend on call. Some places randomly assign call. Some places allow you to pick your call. Call pay varies from facility (3-4 bux an hour seems average in Chicago suburbs - from what I hear, anyway.) We average anywhere from 20-72 hours in a 6 week period. Varies with full or part time status, or how many nurses are on staff. Some nurses take more call than required. We choose by seniority.

Write down your questions & be prepared with them for your interview.... Oh... & if they promise you something that sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[heather2084, BSN]

I am possibly thinking of going to the OR.

1) How do the doctors treat newbies, whether new grads or not?

2) How does on call work? How much do you get paid? How often are you on call?

on call pay is going to differ greatly based on each hospital. for where i'm at, it's time and a half.

[elcue]

1. Docs treat newbies the same as they do the old pros. That is, if a doc is a jerk to longterm staf (s)he will be a jerk to the new folks too. You see all kinds.

2. We get $3/hr to be on standby, then time and a half if we are called in. We sign up for call ourselves - six 8-hour weekday shifts/3 months (5-11PM or 11PM-7AM) plus four 12-hour weekend shifts/3 months. You have to be able to be there within 30 minutes of the phone call, otherwise you have to spend your call peiod at the hospital.