Starting the road that hopefully leads to the OR

[hkkane]

I have been looking at my options for working in the OR and have some questions.

I would like to be as close to surgery as possible and am wondering what the difference between a scrub nurse and a CST is. Job responsibilities, need in field, etc

I had originally thought about pursuing a BSN and then finding the various experiences and certification to become a peri-operative nurse but am I climbing a mountain when I could be climbing a hill with going to be a CST?

Any insight is appreciated, thank you!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Generally, nurses are not hired as "scrub nurses". They are hired as OR nurses who can circulate or scrub- they would be expected to fulfill both roles. In the scrub role, there really isn't a difference between surgical technologists and RNs. In many ORs, scrub duties are fulfilled by surgical technologists and RNs either don't scrub at all or only scrub occasionally. In my facility, STs max out in salary at about the low end starting point for RNs with no experience. We are very heavy on STs, and the only nurses who scrub on any sort of a routine basis are those in cardiac surgery. Some nurses who scrub rarely are those who were former STs or those who have gone on and become RNFAs. Basically, it's a cost savings for the facility because they aren't paying the entire staff nursing salaries.

What's good about nursing vs ST: flexibility. STs are pretty limited in where they can work- OR, endo, ambulatory surgery centers, maybe some other procedural areas. Nurses, on the other hand, have a very large number of specialties they can work in, and additional education beyond orientation is not required to change specialties. And even if a nurse can't find a job in his/her preferred specialty, they can look for a nursing job that would lead to that preferred specialty- an established employment history with an employer and access to internal job postings.

Research both your local job market and the sites for STs and OR RNs- Association of Surgical Technologists and Association of periOperative Registered Nurses