What's it like to be an OR nurse?

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Specializes in Critical Care. CVICU. Adult and Peds PACU..

Just curious. :)

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Specializes in ED, OR, SAF, Corrections.

On a good day, very interesting. On a bad day, I have to wear my mental straight jacket so I don't punch a doc in the windpipe.

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Working in the OR is like learning how to play a game with no written rules. Listen to everything that is said to you and by whom,figure out relationships between staff,always keeping quiet. In about 1 year you'll be on your way to figuring out how to play. After about five years it will be your game. And don't forget to keep quiet!! You can't talk about a game that you don't know how to play,very important.

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Ive been a surgical tech in the OR for 13 years...The OR is a wonderful place. As a nurse your job is to get the OR ready for the patient, then go to pre-op and interview your patient and bring them back to the OR. Then the nurse helps the anesthesia provider get the patient off to sleep. As the OR nurse you clip (shave) the patients, give antibiotics...count with the scrub nurse. Then the nurse documents and open's up any other supplies needed during the case. During trauma the nurse checks blood...ect.

Some cool things about the OR:

you will always learn something new every day.

you get to see some amazing things..(cool anatomy...very cool tumors ect)

you work WITH the doctors...as their co-worker.

We get to listen to music while we work!

The not so cool stuff:

It can be a high stress enviroment

Some OR's can be brutal..(not nice ect...:(

If you want a challeging ...very cool ....fun job I would work in the OR...(but im biased).

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