Surgical Nurse??

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Specializes in none.

i'm currently finishing out a military commitment and would like to pursue a career as a nurse working specifically in the or with the surgeon. my dad is a veterinarian and i have spent many hours scrubbed in on his cases assisting him. i would like to do the same thing in the human world of medicine. i currently hold a bs in biology and am essentially lost on how to pursue a specialty. i live in colorado and would like to go to school in the denver area. i have found some schools with nursing programs, but nothing is mentioned about specialties - how are they picked? is it something you decide on while you're in school? do all bs in nursing programs offer specialty training? so far, all of my searches have been fruitless. any information or direction you could provide would be greatly appreciated!!

respectfully,

militarytonursing

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.

Typically, BSN programs do not offer specialty tracks. I have never seen one that does. You see a little bit of each general area of nursing during your BSN program (OR was included in my program as part of our med/surg course), in order to have exposure to the field. Specialization is something that happens after you graduate and begin working. If you were looking to get a foot in the door during nursing school, you could work in a hospital as a CNA/PCA/Student Nurse/Tech (various hospitals call them various things.) and maybe try to land a position on a med/surg or post-op floor. Hope I was of some help. This site is a great resource, keep coming back!

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Specializes in Peri-op/Sub-Acute ANP.

Basically, you become an RN first and then specialize to OR, ICU or whatever.

However, if you only want to be scrubbed in (as you describe), nursing may not be the way you really want to go. Although there are nurses that do scrub in on cases, many/most hospitals now employ surgical technologists to scrub in the case and the nurses circulate in the room. Scrub techs are cheaper for the hospitals to hire, and the training is much faster (some programs are 8-12 months long as opposed to 2 years for most nursing programs).

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The OR would be something you get into after you graduate. Specialties are picked after graduation though usually you are exposed, to most of the common areas. Most programs have OR shadowing days in the basic program. Many hospitals offer a perioperative nursing class to get you started..basically its paid training.

Also, have you thought about a career as a Surgical Technologist? Their scope of practice is no where as large as an RN and you would be in the OR area of the hosptial usually, but if you're looking to scrub ALOT, this would be the job for you. Lots of places prefer STs to RNs as they are cheaper to hire.

Good luck !

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I'm currently a student nurse in the OR learning how to scrub. The best way is to go ahead and do nursing, and while in nursing school, apply for externship in the OR. Check your local hospitals if they have such positions (teaching hospitals are the best places to look). After I grad, they are going to hire me as a full time OR nurse.

Unfortunately nursing school does little teaching for the OR, however if you choose to do your senior focus in the OR, they may decide to hire you after u graduate.

Good luck !

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Specializes in ICU.

Hey!

To become a RN you need to apply to any school of nursing. You will have to choose whether you want your diploma...wich takes less time, or your degree which is 4 years.Everyone in the program gets the same classes, and often the same experiences. There are no majors or minors like alot of other programs. They way my program worked, we had to do a few rotations in medicine and surgery, comunity and home health, and long term care. Those rotations give you the basics of nursing. You dont specialize while in school. There are courses usually offered by the hospital/health region that you can apply to. After you graduate, if you want to work in OR, in my area, there is a course ofered by the local health authority (I live in alberta), that gives you classroom and practical experience. Doesnt matter if you have 20 years or 2 months under your belt, they all take the same OR course. After you finish that, then you can work in OR. Same thing with ICU..theres a 6 week classroom portion, then 5 weeks practical. Im not sure how other specialties work like L&D, ect. Since you have a degree in biology, you might have some science courses that will give you credit for nursing, so you wont have such a huge course load.

So your first step is to apply to nursing school and get through that first :)

Hope this helps somewhat.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.
Hey!

There are no majors or minors like alot of other programs.

Not true everywhere. I just finished my BSN at a state college. I was a nursing major and had minors in biology & psychology. It depends on where you go to school & the type of program.

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Specializes in OR Nursing Internship.

Hi there,

I think the better route would be to go to nursing school. Since you have a Bachelor's you could get accepted into the accelerated programs that are around 15 months. A surgical tech goes to school for 6 months and then 6 months of clinical time. They earn substantially less than the RN in the OR...15$ in our hospital vs. 21$ for an RN. Some nurses can scrub quite a bit if they like but mainly they are circulators in the room.

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Specializes in Psych, M-S, FP, Women's Health.

If you want to be in surgery strictly to scrub, an OR tech program would be the way to go. However, if patient care holds any interest for you, consider going the PA-C route. My PA buddies who work in surgical practices love having the best of both worlds. Good Luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac, Adolescent/Child Mental Health.

Google "RN First Assistant". :wink2:

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Hello Militarytonursing,

I am a Operating Room Nurse and I scrub and circulate. There are a lot of good ideas here in these posts. I would suggest you research the best option for you. I spent several years as a Surgical Technician before becoming a Registered Nurse. I know that there are several peri-operative programs that train nurses to scrub. The only problem is that as a nurse you are going to be mainly circulating, there are however exceptions to the rule. I know the certain facilities have all RN specialty teams for things like transplants and open hearts, but like I said it will depend on the facility. There is also the option of RNFA, this is usually the option for seasoned nurses who have a strong scrubbing background. This certification gives the nurse the ability to work independently and bill the patient directly for their work(that is if they don't already work for a hospital). They work as assistants, not scrubs, for the Surgeon during the surgical procedure.

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