I stuck this in 'general nursing' because I wasn't sure if it should go under 'students' or 'student NP' or just 'NP'...
I know I want to be in the OR, and I'll be applying for a new grad residency in the OR to get all the experience I can. I'm also an older student, so I need to get on the ball with the rest of my education, but I cannot figure out which path to take to get my NP.
I want to choose a path that will be relevant to my goal of spending as much time as possible in the OR. I just have no idea what that path is. I've come to the decision that whether it's an MSN or a DNP program is less important than exactly which track I take.
I know there are several certifications that would be fantastic to have, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse. I just want to figure out what kind of NP I should choose. I've already eliminated the FNP because I'd prefer to stick with adults, so I'm thinking adult/gero is probably what I need.
My other issue is that I need a program that would allow me to work while in school, and I would prefer staying with an in-state program, so that severely limits my options. If I must go out of state, I really don't want a program that charges double tuition for the privilege.
I guess my question is what NP specialty is most often found working in the OR?
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Haven't seen RNFA'a in w0 years. They were very short term. Hospitals so not pay RN'a ti scrub. Tech's do it better and cheaper. RN'a in the OR spend a lot if time on the computer. I've never seen NP in the OR either. It's illogical to choose to do something in which you have no experience. I became a CRNA without experience in the OR. They do not accept OR experience as a pre few even. But I knew it was direct patient care and I didn't want to be a 40 year old intern and it would work out in the end. It's the only advanced practice nursing in the OR.
Your experience does not equal universal truth. I work with several NPs in the OR (surgeon employed) as well as several RNFAs (hospital employed). Some facilities rely strongly on STs (mine is one), others are predominantly RNs (like the one I applied to that was 70% RN vs 30% ST with all RNs expected to scrub).
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
But a scrub tech cannot be first assist.
Just like RNFA is additional training for RNs to become first assistants, there are paths that the surgical technologists can take as well, including CSFA.
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Sorry that wasn't clear. I was talking about my path to becoming a nurse practitioner and working primarily as a first assistant in the OR.
As I mentioned before, becoming an NP isn't a typical path to the OR. As I said earlier, I would just focus on graduating and trying to land an RN position in the OR, and then go from there. You do that for a few years, you may see opportunities present themselves to you. But saying "I want to work in the OR, so I'm going to become an NP" is not a very logical thought process or path to your goals.
Be prepared for maybe finding out the OR is not going to be your heart's desire. I thought it was my thing too till I spent time doing it. You may find a whole other road opening for you.
Be prepared for maybe finding out the OR is not going to be your heart's desire. I thought it was my thing too till I spent time doing it. You may find a whole other road opening for you.
I'm definitely open to changing my mind, but I've never felt so much excitement and awe as when I was in the OR. I had no idea how much I would love it in there. None of my other clinical experiences left me feeling anything like that.
I understand what you are asking, OP. There is a adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner program (AGACNP) at University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) that offers a RNFA subspecialty certification. If you found this was the way to go for you, I believe it costs around $30K. While there are some NPs who work in a surgical capacity, it does seem like PAs are more commonly used as first assists. Good luck!!
There us nothing for an adult gerontology NP to do in an OR so don't do that if you just want an OR job.
This is not true. Here's my 10c as someone who is about to graduate as an AGACNP. You really want to aim for the acute adult gerontology NP program (AGACNP) in order to work in acute care. That's the first hurdle. It's becoming less likely for an FNP to be hired into an acute hospital position, and the consensus is gearing towards hiring only acute NPs in inpatient environments. Yes, I know that there are still many FNPs working in hospitals but that's what's going to happen in the near future. In order to get accepted into a AGACNP program you will likely have to have 1 to 2 years of acute experience as an RN, and frequently ICU experience. In my program OR experience does not count for admission. It's mainly ICU or stepdown that's accepted. If there's a program out there willing to accept someone without acute experience then that's not a program you want to go to. Acute care is much more involved than family. You learn to intubate, put in central lines, arterial lines, chest tubes and manage critically ill patients on pressors, so you want a really good program with an excellent foundation.
Then, once you're an NP you want to get your RFNA. You can get a RNFA while you're a nurse but the program requires you to have 2 years OR experience. If you're an NP they do not require you to have experience. In my opinion getting OR experience as an RN is not necessary at this point because in order to get into a AGACNP program you are much better off getting ICU experience.
There is no specific arena in which you would work solely in the OR as an NP, but there are specialties where it is likely you could spend a lot of time in there. One would be general or GI surgery, another is orthopedics and lastly cardiac surgery where you would be able to assist harvesting veins for CABG. You would have to also do pre-op workups, admissions and post-op rounds as well as assisting in the OR, so don't think that you'll only be in the OR. If you want to do only that you'd be better off working as a surgical tech.
This is not true. Here's my 10c as someone who is about to graduate as an AGACNP. You really want to aim for the acute adult gerontology NP program (AGACNP) in order to work in acute care. That's the first hurdle. It's becoming less likely for an FNP to be hired into an acute hospital position, and the consensus is gearing towards hiring only acute NPs in inpatient environments. Yes, I know that there are still many FNPs working in hospitals but that's what's going to happen in the near future. In order to get accepted into a AGACNP program you will likely have to have 1 to 2 years of acute experience as an RN, and frequently ICU experience. In my program OR experience does not count for admission. It's mainly ICU or stepdown that's accepted. If there's a program out there willing to accept someone without acute experience then that's not a program you want to go to. Acute care is much more involved than family. You learn to intubate, put in central lines, arterial lines, chest tubes and manage critically ill patients on pressors, so you want a really good program with an excellent foundation.
Then, once you're an NP you want to get your RFNA. You can get a RNFA while you're a nurse but the program requires you to have 2 years OR experience. If you're an NP they do not require you to have experience. In my opinion getting OR experience as an RN is not necessary at this point because in order to get into a AGACNP program you are much better off getting ICU experience.
There is no specific arena in which you would work solely in the OR as an NP, but there are specialties where it is likely you could spend a lot of time in there. One would be general or GI surgery, another is orthopedics and lastly cardiac surgery where you would be able to assist harvesting veins for CABG. You would have to also do pre-op workups, admissions and post-op rounds as well as assisting in the OR, so don't think that you'll only be in the OR. If you want to do only that you'd be better off working as a surgical tech.
Hope that helps.
Okay. Let me ask: How would you use your acute care gerontology skills in the OR? You're not going to be putting lines in - anesthesia does that. And I'm not sure why a hospital would need (let's say in the ICU) nursing gerontology specialists to put in lines. Is there something special about a line in an 80 year old vs. a 40 year old? It's just a line. Everyone learns a lot about gerontology because the huge bulk of the patients are elderly!. I see a big need for gerontology specialists in acute care on the floors, though. If they could follow up on their acute care patients in clinic, so much the better.
Okay. Let me ask: How would you use your acute care gerontology skills in the OR? You're not going to be putting lines in - anesthesia does that. And I'm not sure why a hospital would need (let's say in the ICU) nursing gerontology specialists to put in lines. Is there something special about a line in an 80 year old vs. a 40 year old? It's just a line. Everyone learns a lot about gerontology because the huge bulk of the patients are elderly!. I see a big need for gerontology specialists in acute care on the floors, though. If they could follow up on their acute care patients in clinic, so much the better.
I didn't say you'd be putting lines in in the OR. If you enter the acute program you will be trained how to put lines in. I was merely highlighting the difference between the FNP and the AGACNP program tracks. FNPs don't put in central lines. AGACNPs work mostly in critical care or inpatient specialty, not in clinics. The specialty is adult and gerontology focused. You don't just see elderly patients, you see all adult patients. In critical care many of the patients are elderly and have a different set of needs related to their age as younger patients do. For example you have to take into account the patient's age before you order certain medications due to their slower GI tract and renal status.
My point was, that in order to work in the OR as a first assist, it is most prudent to enter a AGACNP program as opposed to an FNP program because hospitals are geared towards hiring acute NPs as opposed to hiring FNPs.
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
Path forward to what? I'm unclear what exactly you envision yourself doing in the OR?