Tips/Advice for New OR Nurse

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 15

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New to the OR Team

Tips for New OR Nurses

Read all about the experiences of OR nurses

KSR · Jul 18

Hi BlueberryNurses1,

Curious what made you choose OR?

Stilll in school and trying to decide what I want to do when I finish.

RickyRescueRN, BSN, RN · Jul 19

YouTube is a great resource when wanting to learn the nature of the surgeries that you will be circulating/ scrubbing. Lots of great material there. Surgical Tech Tips was my go to years ago when learning the scrub role and all that that encompasses. AORN has a new section called " The Stitch" and it is particularly focused on new nurses in the OR specialty. Best of luck and feel free to post your questions as you start your new job. There are many of us to help you as you navigate your new specialty.

BlueberryNurse1 · Sep 2

KSR said:

Hi BlueberryNurses1,

Curious what made you choose OR?

Stilll in school and trying to decide what I want to do when I finish.

Hello, sorry for this very late reply. The first time I went to my clinical rotation during nursing school I knew that bedside nursing was not for me at all . I personally love being in a surgical/ perioperative environment. During my last semester, I chose the PACU for my preceptorship because I felt that I would be exposed to critical care but I got bored. And where I live they do not hire new nurses in the PACU. So I choose the OR. Being in the OR I get to see surgeries in real-time and the team-oriented environment is what I love the most. You get to focus on one patient at a time. The OR has a HUGEE learning curve because it is not taught in nursing school so you need to be a sponge and be able to absorb all the information being taught and apply it.

As you go through your clinical rotations, keep an open mind and take notes of what you like and what you don't like. I thought I would be in the NICU but when I had my rotation there it quickly changed my mind. Don't let anyone tell you " you won't be rounded or you will lose skills". Choose the specialty that speaks to you.

MarcieM, LPN, RN · Sep 4

I agree with the posts above. For the OR if you have a strong preceptor and a strong surgical tech that can make your orientation so much better. They are a wealth of knowledge! I worked as a tech for 5 yrs and now I'm on orientation as a circulator, I love being in the OR and do not see myself as a floor nurse. YouTube is a great resource, but also give yourself grace they don't expect you to know everything. Don't act like you know everything, be teachable, write things down if you need to (get some.small notebooks from the dollar store), if you feel overwhelmed let your preceptor know, if you don't mesh well or you can't learn from a preceptor tell your clinical trainer and they will work to swap you if they can, if not make the best.of.it u til they can accommodate, DO NOT get caught up with the staff gossip and politics, it will make you not want to work there and as a newbie it looks bad. I've been at my job 5 yrs and I don't get involved, it's given me great peace of mind 😁. God bless you wherever you go!

Abby Suh · Sep 15

For me it was learning the whole and not just my role. You're likely going to be precepted by circulating RNs unless you learn to scrub, then it could be RNs or CSTs. I really learned a lot with my nurse AND with my scrub. Even now any time I do something I do not know, I lean on my scrub to help me out.

Learn in small chunks like prepping, positioning, charting. On their own, it's all not bad, putting them together was the challenge, especially the charting combined with the rest, charting is very time sensitive because many doctors and the board runner use the "in room time" and "start times" to help know when to send for the flip room or for the surgeon to know when to come to the room. It's important to find the balance of getting the time in and attending to your patient and your team. In some surgeries, you are an active member of the surgery even circulating so it's important to learn any shortcuts or ways to speed up charting or you'll be catching up in the PACU. (An example is during an anterior hip replacement you're to run the Hana bed).

Keep either a notebook or tablet to take notes. If you're learning to scrub take pictures of the back table and Mayo. For total joints most vendors have technique guides to help you understand too.

My main thing for all (when I was in nursing school and in the OR)… don't stress! Stress does not help you, try to remain calm and just do.