What's it like working an Ortho unit?

[jbee]

I'm an RN with 1.5 years of experience who is planning to move within the next month. I have a job interview for an Ortho position next week- however, I know absolutely NOTHING about orthopedics. Can anyone tell me a bit about this population? What kinds of injuries/surgeries are common to see?

Thanks!

[EMTRN2006]

Always add pain pills slowly and never base dose on size of patients. Big guys sometimes cannot tolerate big doses..Keep checking the foley outputs...Do not wait until they have 50 cc out for the night to call the MD. Nip this in the bud early on. Always assess the patient completley. Take dressing down to the surgical/initial dressing and inspect it. At the slightest loss of dorsi/plantar flexion, stop the sciatic nerve block. The dorsiflexion is much easier to come back if stopped earlier than latter. For patients with chronic pain, make sure MD has ordered chronic pain meds in addition to acute pain meds, if not it will be a busy night trying to get pain under control...Dont assess once and then sit at the desk all night--this mistake is made by a lot of the younger nurses..You must assess you patients throughout the shift. Hope it helps.