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...
Go for RN, more opportunities, more salary. I am Rn student alsmot graduating and I was interested in scrubbing, but I went through a lot of different specialties in the nursing school ( I am not done yet:) and I realized that there are other things also that I like, so let her go for RN and then as she is in the program she will decide what she wants. Scrubbing is always possible, let her try more.
Definately go for RN, not disrespecting EN's/LPN but the simple truth is that you have more career opportunities than an EN/LPN has.
I'm an OR RN and I love scrubbing and scouting. I do both, we all take it in turns at my work on doing both roles where I work. We also have anaesthetic nurses...do you guys in the US have these any more or just techs?
The Pro's of being a scrub:
You get to see all that interesting anatomical stuff you learned in nursing school.
There is different clinical specialities i,e neuro, ortho, plastics, ENT, General, Urology, vascular, Cardiothoracic, and so on that you can specialise in
If something goes wrong there is always enough people around to help with emergencies etc, you press the emergency button and you get rent a crowd
Technology is always changing in the OR, and it's fun to be a part of doing new procedures and developments etc, recently we've started using the Davinci robot for ENT cases which has been awesome
At my work you always work with different people everyday so if you don't like someone chances are you don't have to work with them for a while
You don't have to deal with annoying family members
If your patient is a pain in the a@rse then that's ok because they get anaesthetised!
Cons
Very steep learning curve. When things become tense then it's not always a good place to be a learner.
Some surgeons can be pretty nasty, you have to develop a thick skin and not be afraid to make your point heard.
You don't get a lot of patient contact. We're pretty invisible in the OR
Scrubbing can be physically and mentally demanding. After being scrubbed for 5 hours you start to become quite dehydrated. It's not always possible to 'scrub out' (another nurse takes over for you) and after 8 hours you start to lose the plot a little bit. I get a little bit cranky.
Theres a saying that 'a scrub is only as good as the scout'. You can be the best scrub nurse in the world but if your scout nurse is not up to scratch then the whole case will go badly and the surgeon often tends to blame the scrub nurse for this.
Since the OP is in the US, I would say go RN. It appears to be much easier to get into the RN programmes down there. Up here in Canada we only have the BScN route and not everyone can afford four years at university. Our PN education is basically the hospital diploma RN (two years) but at the college level.
Our PNs advance to ORT as a post grad specialty. Same training as a BScN but without the supervisory skills class. Both grades of nurses scrub or circulate.
Our unions are closing the pay gap. Having said that, with the way the economy is going in some areas RN contracts are pricing themselves out of the market with their wages.
Hey Scrubby, do you know if new grad RNs have to go through some kind of training to become a scrub nurse? Can you do scrubbing right after graduation or we need some experience in med surg? how is the pay? I am located in Los Angeles,CA. Thanks a lot.
Hey Scrubby, do you know if new grad RNs have to go through some kind of training to become a scrub nurse? Can you do scrubbing right after graduation or we need some experience in med surg? how is the pay? I am located in Los Angeles,CA. Thanks a lot.
I can't answer your question because I live in a different country. From what I've gathered from other people's posts on the OR nurses forums you don't need med-surg experience to get into OR but it's recommended by some because you learn basic nursing skills etc.
No matter what kind of nurse she wants to be, she will take the same nursing classes in college as all the other nurse hopefuls. So I would HIGHLY recommend taking Anatomy in high school to prepare for nursing prereqs. And some schools have health occupations programs that teach anatomy and drugs and other medical curriculum. Then, students are rotated to "clinicals" at nearby hospitals and doctors offices. This seems like it would be great prep! If only I had known I wanted to be a nurse back in high school, i DEFINITELY would have taken advantage of this opportunity!
girl84
13 Posts
Go for RN, more opportunities, more salary. I am Rn student alsmot graduating and I was interested in scrubbing, but I went through a lot of different specialties in the nursing school ( I am not done yet:) and I realized that there are other things also that I like, so let her go for RN and then as she is in the program she will decide what she wants. Scrubbing is always possible, let her try more.