Surgical Nurses

[Paigemcdonald92]

Right now I am currently going to Community college to get my pre reqs for nursing, than plan on doing my program at a University. But right now Im sort of trying to figure out which way I wanna go with nursing. When I was in highschool I was able to shadow a nurse and was able to stand in on a surgery and really enjoyed that. So any thoughts on a surgical nurse or any advice. Ive heard it can be pretty tough with the doctors ( I know nursing is in general).But I wasnt sure if any one had any advice on it.

Thanks,

[kguill975, MSN, APRN, NP]

All nursing requires the ability to work under pressure, but in the OR, you need to be able to multi-task quickly as well. For instance, anesthesia may be asking for blood products, your scrub tech may be asking for more sponges, the doctor may be asking for additional instrumentation, and they all need it NOW! It can get stressful and tense, and tempers will flare, but it is a very specialized, enjoyable setting. When you're ready, make sure you get into a good training program, with lots of support. The OR can make or break a brand new nurse.

[krwrnbsn]

All nursing requires the ability to work under pressure but in the OR, you need to be able to multi-task quickly as well. For instance, anesthesia may be asking for blood products, your scrub tech may be asking for more sponges, the doctor may be asking for additional instrumentation, and they all need it NOW! It can get stressful and tense, and tempers will flare, but it is a very specialized, enjoyable setting. When you're ready, make sure you get into a good training program, with lots of support. The OR can make or break a brand new nurse.[/quote']

I agree with everything you said @kguill975. I think that any area can make or break a new nurse! It all depends on the unit and preceptors ect.