Student Nurses in OR???

I too am starting to think about a nurse-tech position in the OR at one of the local hospitals in Seattle. I don't know what they do that's different from the usual tasks of the SSA's so we'll see! Hopefully someone responds that knows something! A girl that goes to my nursing school a few quarters ahead of me is a nurse tech in the OR... I've been trying to get ahold of her so we'll see.

We had a nursing student that worked in our OR while she was going to nursing school. She transported the patients from outpatient to holding, she pulled cases for the next day, she put on sterile gloves and helped us hold limbs, she helped stock, she sometimes helped the anesthesia tech turn over cases, she went to the floor and picked up patients, etc.... She was really good, funny, once she graduated she decided to try Med-Surg before attempting the OR. We told her she would be back....

We've had student nurses in the OR as an extern position at my previous hospital. They were taught to scrub, although never were they first scrub, only second. They could circulate with someone but could not do paperwork, give meds etc. They were allowed to do foleys under supervision, since nursing students do them on the floor.

This was actually an excellent oppourtunity to get ones foot in the door. I didn't do it, becauseI was working there as a surgical tech, the pay cut would have been deep(we're talking $6-7 dollars an hour) and I wouldn't have had health benefits..

I have been doing a student nursing internship in my OR for about 7 months now and I have been taught sterile technique, setting up the field, scrubbing, etc. Basically have been training as a CST. It's been awesome and it was difficult to learn all the instruments and keep up with the cases but I've learned alot and I love it. And I have an RN job for when i graduate so what's better than that? Let me know if you have any other questions.