Start in a lower position (ST) or in a different department?

[kuroroko513]

I am trying to start my OR career here in the US, have 6+ years OR nurse experience in a foreign country, Japan. I love OR nursing and I would like contiue my career in the OR. So far so now, I have had some experience working in PACU (endoscopy) and a short stint in the OR. During my stint, I realized that I needed more training to cover differences between Japan and the US medical systems. The small hospital I worked at had no training capacity and terminated me when it became apparent that I had issues with communication and also with nursing itself -- in Japan I worked more in a scrubbing function, while here they expected me to circulate. Also, it turned out that in Japan doctors do some things (paperwork, prep, positioning) that are performed by nurses here.

Now I am wondering what my best strategy is going forward (besides being in a state of shock about my termination -- I was one of the best OR nurses in Japan and never imagined to be laid off)? Do I better join a floor position (e.g. MedSurg) first to learn and observe? Or, as one OR supervisor advises, should I step a level down and join as a Scrub Tech with the later goal of "becoming" a nurse again? I could learn and observe circulating nurses for a while. Of course, eventually, I want to take an OR position in the facility. What do you think?

[MsLeylaBar]

If you are an RN in the US now then why would you step down and work as a scrub tech. I'm not sure that's even possible. Not sure if any hospital would hire an RN to just do scrubbing role.

What would be best probably is for you to undergo a 6 mos training like any new RN's would in a good teaching hospital. That way, you would learn a lot of stuff and you would be much more prepared on how things are handled by OR nurses here. Don't give up on OR Nursing. :) I don't think you would like Med-Surg a lot if you've done OR for 6 years.

[kuroroko513]

MsLeylaar,

there is only one teaching hospital in my home state and it's all clogged up with applications. Impossible to get in, unless you worked there before and have connections.

But I just talked to an OR supervisor in another major hospital who says she'll hire me as Scrub Tech immediately, but not as a nurse since they have no teaching capacity at all. She also mentioned that she already has a nursing student scrubbing for her there who will graduate soon. That got me started on the idea...

[fracturenurse]

MsLeylaar,

there is only one teaching hospital in my home state and it's all clogged up with applications. Impossible to get in, unless you worked there before and have connections.

But I just talked to an OR supervisor in another major hospital who says she'll hire me as Scrub Tech immediately, but not as a nurse since they have no teaching capacity at all. She also mentioned that she already has a nursing student scrubbing for her there who will graduate soon. That got me started on the idea...

I don't know, that is so weird that they would have a RN actually be hired as a scrub tech? You do have a license in the US??? I don't know, something seems weird to me. It's up to you, maybe look around at surgery centers that do smaller cases and see if they need circulators, I worked in a surgery center for a while, and it's busy, but it's just a different mentality you could probably catch on easier.

Keep us posted...