Scrub Nurse Pros/Cons

mcubed45 · Apr 19, 2008

Hi, I am trying to help my daughter wanting a career in the medical field.
She is a sophomore in high school and is wondering what classes in high school can prep her for scrub nurse/nursing (she is taking chem now, actually does quite well, I did horrible in chemistry!) or another field similar to this...any tips, ideas, how to get started in right direction...pros/cons....anyone thought of wanting to be a scrub nurse and stumbled upon another career along the way that maybe she can check into...so many questions....HELP?!
Thanks for your help. Just trying to give her a heads up...

OR (operating room) nurses go through the same nursing school as all other nurses despite their work being quite different from typical bedside nursing. she'll need all the same sciences and other nursing pre-reqs as any other nursing student. also, many hospitals utilize scrub TECHS rather than nurses. the nurse in the room usually circulates instead. nurses can either scrub or circulate but scrub techs can only scrub. scrub techs are cheaper to emply so that's why many hospitals utilize them for this role rather than having 2 nurses in the room.

if she's set on wanting to scrub then she may want to consider becoming a scrub tech instead.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Apr 19, 2008

the sciences and math. that's about all in high school. perhaps that's changed alot though it's been 35 years since i was in hs. most hs will let seniors take college classes at a local community college if they've already met the required credits for graduation. that may be something to check into and to aim for :up:

BayouLPN · Apr 19, 2008

Hi Baseball 33. I am LPN who does scrub for c-sections. I love it. I don't understand why RN's aren't used more because scrub is very intense and must be done with strict sterile procedure. But, you get into the "guts of the matter" with the dr. LPN's are utilized as scrub techs. I would do Scrub full time if the pay was worth it. It isn't. I would suggest your daughter do a 2 year nursing program and then apply strictly for scrub. I know some lpns who did just that. But, they can also work as a nurse if money starts to become an issue. Not knowing what state you are in...I don't know the requirements. Here in LA, right now...scrubs can be on the job trained. Many states have a specialized program at community colleges. I hear LA is fixing to require this schooling as well. That may make the pay come up. As for HS, concentrate on the sciences...esp human ...biology, anatomy, physiology. Math is important if nursing school is considered. A well rounded general curriculum will fit the bill for now. You could, also, call your local hospital admin to see if they have information for her and what they look for in new employees. Some hosp. actually help train and pay for tuition of employees. Good luck.

Baseball33 · Apr 19, 2008

Thanks so much for all who have responded. My daughter can read these and have a better understanding of where to begin. We live in Indiana, don't know the schools yet, pay or anything, but will check into all of it.

Which one allows you nurse privileges, scrubbing, etc. not just limited to one or the other or limitation on LPN, RN, or what...again, just learning specifics re: this field, sorry so "dumb" to it....I would rather her go to school longer and be allowed to do more than limit herself to only being able to do so much, you know what I mean?

She had thought of studying neonatalogy or post pardum nursing, really likes the "baby" side. She met a scrub nurse and enjoyed talking to her so much, thought of that avenue. Really intrigued by it due to it being different everyday and constant motion and hands on w/o actually doing the work (Dr.), just loved that idea.....anyway, now I am rambling, thanks for any input from all...

elkpark · Apr 19, 2008

In the US, nurses, whether LPN or RN, are trained and licensed as generalists (some other countries do things differently) -- that is, you study all areas of nursing in school and are licensed to practice in any area of nursing. People can choose to specialize in OR, NICU, or any other specialty area after they're licensed, but you study everything in school.

So, any nursing school that your daughter were to attend would prepare her for a wide variety of employment opportunities after graduation and licensure.

She will have a much wider range of professional/career opportunities as an RN than she would as an LPN. There are lots of areas of healthcare/nursing that don't use LPNs.

Baseball33 · Apr 19, 2008

Thank you so much. Very helpful. Just trying to give her some guidance....

imenid37 · Apr 19, 2008

We have surg technologists at our hospital for most cases. LPN's from our dept. do scrub for C/S. They used to hire LPN's and train them to scrub. Now they want the surg techs because they learn so much OR stuff in school, while the LPN's do not. They learn much more bedside nursing care. They almost never train RN's to scrub anymore. I am not sure what the surg tech salary range is. I know it is less than for RN's, but I am not sure how it compares to LPN salaries. Here's some programs we get graduates from. I work in OB, but do some hospital ed stuff, so I have met a lot of surg techs. They love thier job in most cases and many have ambitions of getting an RN degree for the money aspect of it.

http://www.hacc.edu/healthCareers/documents/HCOrientationProfessions.pdf

http://www.frederick.edu/courses_and_programs/degree_hssurgical.aspx

http://www.lancastergeneralcollege.edu/content/Surgical_Technology.htm

casi, ASN, RN · Apr 19, 2008

Science and math help, but basically all high school classes do is get you into the college of your choice. I would push her to take classes and do activities that she enjoys.

Depending on your state, she maybe able to enroll in a nursing assistant program and work as a NA to get the feel of nursing. Unfortunately nursing is much different than how they portray it on TV.

http://www.discovernursing.com/ may help you in figuring out more about nursing degrees.

BayouLPN · Apr 21, 2008

If I were younger, I would have gone the RN route. They have much more possibilities in the nursing world and especially in the OB dept. My facility trains almost all nurses on how to scrub just in case of a crash and one of the few LPN's are not there. We have OB techs but they only work during the daytime when most c-sections are scheduled. At the "Big House", our hospital for everything except OB & simple Women's Specialty. The OR Techs are either OR Techs or LPN's who want to do scrub full time. RN's are the circulating nurse...I refer to them as the Director of the movie. They make sure everything going on around the surgery runs smoothly (very detailed). If your daughter is just coming out of high school, wants to go to college for several years, by all means...go for the RN. Esp. if she likes the "baby" side of things. I would love to Labor/Deliver but as an LPN, I cannot. Depending on your state's requirements, she could possible train as a scrub tech while in school. One of our scrub techs graduates nursing school next month and 3 unit techs will all graduate before the end of the year. Guess where they already have jobs? Good Luck

Altra, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2008

Unfortunately nursing is much different than how they portray it on TV.
http://www.discovernursing.com/ may help you in figuring out more about nursing degrees.

I would make that a "fortunately" nursing is much different in reality than it is portrayed on TV. The nurses I know -- intelligent, intellectually curious, proactive women and men -- would have left nursing long ago if it consisted of just carrying around a clipboard and saying, "Yes, Doctor." :smokin:

Fortunately, there's much more to it. Good luck to your daughter.

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2008

Speaking as someone that was a surg tech for a few years before becoming a nurse, I say that she should go right for her RN. For a while there, many hospitals did not have the RNs scrub but I believe the trend is going back to teaching nurses to scrub. My hospital teaches RN to scrub and it makes you so marketable as a traveler and even a regular staff position, if you can scrub and circulate.

My surg tech program was way overpriced-$20,000 for an 18 month program when the starting pay for surg techs at the time was $10 an hour. I actually only paid about $6500 for my RN degree.

If she decides she wants to try a different specialty, it's a lot easier to do this as an RN, rather than an LPN or surg tech. As a surg tech, you're pretty much locked into the OR.