What are the rewards and challenges of an OR nurse?

scrubulator · Sep 7, 2014

Challenges-

+I think your mood largely depends on your surgeon. If its a difficult case, the surgeon can get mad and take it out on everyone (including you). Another one is the case turnover time.

+All hospitals are stressing for a fast turnover time (pt out to next pt in) and a rushed environment can lead to mistakes. So there is some struggle.

+I work in a speciality (surgical) service which is great, but sometimes I get moved to an unfamiliar speciality. In this case, you have basic scrub/circulating skills so you have to make the most of it and ask for help from other people in the room. Majority of the time it works, but not always.

Rewards-

+I am a huge anatomy buff so I love seeing all the different parts of the body. I have seen the human heart beat, a c-section, held an entire lung, seen an eyeball be removed, held a kidney, seen the brain, touched intestines, seen sinus cavities, hell I even held a detached leg. How many people can see and do all that? I think it's pretty cool.

+you dont deal with code browns as much as the floor.

+Patients come in super nervous so by taking the time to introduce yourself, answering all their questions, providing reassurance, and communicating whats going to happen every step of the way you can see them start to relax a bit.

+ At my hospital, we have the option of 8hr/10h/12hr shifts which is something rarely seen with nurses. Plus, we typically have weekends/holidays off unless we pick up a shift on that day. Something to look into is if you have to work weekends or take call, find out the shift differential and if it can be over time =$$$

Cindycin37, ASN, RN · Oct 8, 2014

I have an associates degree in nursing and I'm taking prereq's to get into UICs RN to BSN program. I'm currently unemployed. I worked at a SNF for 6 months and left due to nurse patient ratio. I wish I could have stuck it out but it was too much! It's going to take me 2-3 years to complete the RN to BSN program. I want to attend school full time so I can get done faster. I was wondering what area of nursing I should work in so that I can transition into surgical nursing? I've heard that I should get my esthetician license and work in a surgeons office, I've heard that I should take an injection course, and it goes on and on. I really want to get my career going but need some advice from a reputable source.