Why did you pick OR/Periop nursing?

brewerpaul · Dec 29, 2008

This is my midlife crisis job change...After 30 years as a podiatrist, I'd had my fill of running a solo medical practice in the face of ever increasing governmental regulations, dwindling insurance reimbursement and growing expenses.

In nursing school I really didn't like floor nursing. I hate that type of multi-tasking: keeping track of multiple patients, multiple meds, calls to and from Docs, etc.

In the OR you certainly multitask, but it's all focused on ONE case at a time. Do that, hand it off, and move on. This job suits me to a tee! The teamwork aspect of it is terrific (we have a wonderful staff).

The one thing I really miss is the patient care continuity-- I always wanna know how the patient made out a few days, weeks, or months later. In my podiatry practice, I had patients who I'd treated for many years, sometimes treating up to four generations of a family.

KayceeCA · Dec 31, 2008

I knew when I went to nursing school that I wanted to be an OR nurse. I've always been fascinated by surgery, and I thought it would be a great job for me. I almost quit nursing school my first year because I hated clinicals so much. The thought of having to go in every day and juggle 8-9 patients, deal with the smells (yeah, I'll admit it, I can handle any kind of trauma, pick up pieces of body parts, stick my hands in a chest, abodomen or...orifice without hesitating but the smell of vomit and BM makes me ill!), and work basically on my own made me want to run the other way. Thank God I got an externship position in the OR between my first and second year of nursing school, or I seriously would've quit.

A few things I love about OR nursing:

I love being part of a team. It's like a family. There are some strong personalities in the OR, and you're working very closely day in and day out. But the bonds I've made with my coworkers in the OR are some of the strongest friendships I have.

I love having one patient at a time. I want to focus on one procedure, one surgeon, and one patient. I'm just not very good at dividing my attention between several patients. The OR is one of the few places where you can focus on one patient at a time.

I find surgery fascinating. Once the initial rush of getting a cast started is over and I've done my documentation, I almost always (unless its one of those cases where the surgeon and scrub are asking for things the entire case!) settle back and watch the surgery.

I could go on, but I think that covers the main reasons I chose the OR.

RetiredTooSoon · Jan 4, 2009

I came out of nursing school with no idea what area I wanted to work in. My final few rotations proved to me I didn't want to do med/surg and even though I really wanted to do Palliative Care, the unit I did that rotation on as a student was a bad experience, so I was afraid to try again.

I was working for the blood bank when someone mentioned an OR course being offered at the trauma centre. I applied and got in.

What did I love about it? Only one patient at a time, one case, one thing to focus on. It didn't matter if there were 10 people on the slate that day; my only concern was the patient in front of me.

Like KayceeCA said, I don't split my time well; I'd go nuts trying to deal with six, seven, eight patient all at once-I truly admire the M/S nurses who can do that. During the case, all I had to think about was what instrument the surgeon would want next or if I was circulating, when I should offer the next bundle of sponges or if they'd soon be needing more sutures.

At my OR job, we also had to do time in Recovery and pre-op clinic. I never became fully comfortable with Recovery, but I enjoyed Clinic. I was able to use my knowledge to help answer the questions and comfort at least some of the fears of the patients coming for surgery.

I also loved being able to watch the body working, up close and personally. I assisted on a kidney transplant and within seconds of unclamping the new kidney, it was pink and making urine. I almost started crying right there. :mad:

The routine was also nice; I knew if we were doing whatever procedure that the doctor would need instrument X, Y, Z in this general order. I still had to be prepared for anything that may happen, but there was still the general routine that was always there.

My work in OR also led to a second position; I worked in tissue procurement. In that position, we all were trained to do the tissue harvest surgeries. We were the surgeons, and after we had harvested the tissues, we also had to process them for the surgeons. I particularly loved harvesting bones and skin and enjoyed processing the skin and bones. The team had only two or three RNs; the rest had degrees in cryobiology, medicine and other science/biology areas.

I loved doing the surgery, I loved being part of that team and I loved knowing that our work was helping save lives, restore sight and improve mobility for our recipients. I wasn't as thrilled about the fact that some of our tissue cases went over 16 hours (longest was just over 21 hours). :yawn:

I had to retire from both jobs in 2000 due to illness; I would give anything to go back. :crying2: I especially loved my tissue team. We worked together, we shared laughs together, we kept each other going during marathon sessions and we debriefed each other when there was a tough case that broke our hearts. They were a great group of people and I was blessed to be part of that team.

knapper45 · Jan 8, 2009

:heartbeat I picked the OR because I love anatomy! I also learned during nursing school that I liked taking care of patients that were not awake! I like the physical challenges of the OR and the technical aspect as well. After circulating for 10 years, I switched hospitals, joined a heart team and then got the opportunity to scrub/first assist. That really did it for me; now I am a CRNFA- certified RN First Assistant and I love my job!!! :yeah:

I work in the OR only and am employed by the hospital so there are no reimbursement issues. I get to greet the patient, help with room set up, positioning and then I get to assist and close. For me it is the best of nursing! Good Luck to you. If interested, check out the AORN.org website and the Perioperative 101 course. It is a great way to get training for the OR. Take care.