RN Student

[Korinth]

Hi I am currently in RN school and was wondering if the Operating Room would be a good place to start when I graduate?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Have you had any exposure to the OR yet? If not, try to get a shadow day or two, and see what it's like. Just keep in mind that the staff will probably be on better than usual behavior with visitors there- we all have a fairly raunchy sense of humor.

Also be aware of what hospitals you may be applying for- some require a year or two of med surg experience before they will hire.

There are some strong personalities to deal with- surgeons, nurses, anesthesia providers, all work in close quarters, and sometimes stress gets high.

When things go bad in the OR, they can go really bad really fast. You'll need to be able to think quick.

I will say that the OR was completely different from what I imagined it to be. I had no exposure to the OR in school (not even an observation day!) until I did my senior practicum in PACU, and followed a patient from admission through to discharge from recovery.

Many think that OR nursing is a cushy job- you sit at the computer documenting while the surgeon and anesthesia take care of the patient- nothing could be farther from the truth! OR patients cannot speak for themselves, so you truly are the one acting as patient advocate. You also have to be able to gain their trust in the very short time you have with them before they go off to sleep.

My experience as a new grad in the OR was wonderful- good support, a thorough orientation, supervisors who truly cared.

[Korinth]

Ok cool. Yeah not much experience in the OR, I have shadowed a cardiovascular surgeon once and I am pretty sure that everyone was on their best behavior. I was also wondering the difference between a circulating nurse, scrub nurse, and a nurse-first assistant.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Circulating nurse- fulfuls duties outside of the sterile field (documentation, foley insertion, skin prep, assisting anesthesia when needed, running for supplies, monitoring the sterile field for contamination, keeping a record of counted items), etc

Scrub nurse- part of the sterile field, although this role is usually filled by a surgical tech (less $$$), hands supplies to the surgeon, counts with the circulating nurse, monitors sterile field for contamination

First assistant- assists the surgeon, can be RNFA, PA, NP, CFA (surg tech with first assistant cert), resident, med student, another surgeon. Depending on facility/training, may use cautery under direction of MD, may suture wound