Will it matter?

RDBSN16 · Oct 25, 2016

I don't know exactly what skills are used in the OR, BUT I did have a clinical rotation there and the nurses did a lot of foley catheters and also did a lot of fast paced organizing, counting things in the surgery room, and circulated around. I thought about doing OR as well but I was so scared that I would lose my other skills that I have learned throughout nursing school.

I say, if you really feel good about it, go for it. You can do anything in nursing but just don't start out somewhere you may not like because you could possibly experience burnout and that's never fun.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Oct 31, 2016

I am intrigued by OP's career goals. I've never heard of the Institute for Functional Medicine, so I gave it a Google. It appears to be focused on Naturopathy - which is still considered a "fringe" element of medicine in the US. This status means that traditional reimbursement sources are not available - so services are largely dependent upon private pay rather than insurance. If so, it would be very difficult to actually earn a living if your practice was entirely focused in this realm.

It is frustrating to hear the common complaint of "losing nursing skills" associated with working in any area except inpatient acute care. In the US, rapidly evolving healthcare models are predicting the shrinkage of inpatient acute care and expansion of services in all other areas. Why is is hospital care still considered as the gold standard for nursing 'skills'??? On the other hand, surgical nursing is predicted to be a continuing area of need - with more and more procedures conducted in short-term settings. So - in terms of a long-term strategic career advantage, OR specialization would seem to be better than hospital bedside nursing, wouldn't it?

TurnipTruck · Nov 1, 2016

Thank you for this thoughtful reply! I had my interview yesterday and this OR opportunity sounds perfect for me. I love the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the body more than the "touchy feely" stuff. I'm technical, organized, calm, and easy to get along with but not very good at therapeutic communication and helping people through crisis because I tend to be too frank, too factual, and so I don't always say the right thing.... fine for the OR but not fine when someone is dying of cancer or just lost a loved one. I also now realize just what an awesome opportunity this is and rare for someone who is a new grad. I will know by Friday if I'm selected. Friday can't come soon enough!! I'm very excited about it.

I think for the functional approach the research is catching up slowly. I reversed my own autoimmune thyroid condition using a functional approach and cured my husbands IBS. I think there will come a day, not so far in the future when there is more focus on returning the body to homeostasis by restoring the internal and external environment to something that more closely resembles that which we evolved with allowing our genes to express in way that are more normal to our species. This approach does not work for acute emergencies/conditions but it is superior when it comes to chronic disease, and therefore really shouldn't be called fringe or alternative medicine but just medicine. The biggest obstacle is lack of funding for large scale studies and research. No big drug companies will fund such research and so it falls on the little guys, therefore the process is slow. Many functional Docs use the concierge model to run a small successful practice that is both lucrative and immensely rewarding. Also you might be surprised to find that insurance companies cover more than you think, as these methods are becoming more widely accepted, simply because they work. The cost may be greater up front with a lot of advanced testing but the savings is undeniable over the long run as your are curing a disease instead of medicating and suppressing symptoms while the disease progresses and more comorbidities develop.