RN's role in operating room

World International

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Dear all,

I heard that in US Rn doesn't scrub in theatres!! Just wonder what does RN do then? One of my friend is too scared to go to US now as she doesn't know much apart from scrubbing. What's the RN role differences between US and UK? Any information would be apprepriated. You never know, you may change somebody's life!

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RN's do scrub in the US. They also circulate.

Ye,s I have met many OR nurses in the US who cannot scrub. A lot of times it is the new RN grads that cannot scrub. Usually the department needed RNs so bad they had to teach them the fine art of circulating first in order to ge them up to speed.

Fortunately most new grad OR programs teach the new RN both skills.

In the US they have Certified Surgical Technologist. This tech is somewhat like an ODP. They scrub in many places.

Your friend should not worry. OR nurses are needed in the US. Some hospital will be MORE than happy to teach her to circulate especially since she will be suh an asset with her scrub experience!

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Is it possible to work permanent night shifts within the operating room (7pm - 7am). And if so, are staff simply covering emergency cases that arrive in theatre ?

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Trauma centers are required to have staff in house 24/7.........meaning that there is always one team in house, and more on call. Most facilities would be thrilled to have a nurse that wishes to work nights.

Some of the larger teaching centers actually have cases that go all night, there are always emergencies coming in...........and some of the bigger cased can go on for more than 12 hours.

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