1.5 year RN seeking advice about switching specialties.

[lejohnson93]

Hey all, I have been working in the OR since I graduated last summer, and initially thought it would be where I stayed throughout my career. Due to continuing staffing issues that my management refuses to resolve, and the excessive amounts of mandatory overtime and night/weekend call I am being required to take, I have been feeling increasingly stressed and burnt out where I work. I also have a 50 minute commute to and from the hospital that I work at now, which isn't helping resolve this stress either. I have been searching around for a new job closer to where I live, and I have toyed with the idea of looking into L&D as a new career path. I have found that the issues I'm facing in my current job are very common in other OR's that I have interviewed at, and I'm trying to avoid getting myself into a similar situation.

While I really have enjoyed being a circulator and the variety of cases that I get to do at a Trauma hospital, the stress has had a pretty big impact on me mentally, and I feel like it might be a good time for a change and a fresh start before I start feeling burnt out on nursing entirely.

As a nurse with no L&D experience outside of my nursing school clinicals, I'm a little apprehensive about possibly working in that unit, and I am hoping that someone has had a similar experience and would be willing to give me some insight into what it was like to switch to L&D from a different specialty.

[CSTtoRN]

I too have been in the OR since graduating in May 2016 besides a couple of months in ICU. I was a CST for years before finishing nursing school. I am looking to transition to another department as well. I'm interviewing for Mother/Baby soon. I have not experienced L&D since nursing school but I do know that it can be a very stressful environment as well and if the OR is affecting you mentally now that L&D has a high chance of it too. Good luck! I hope you find what you are looking for closer to home!