Hello,
I am soon going to be graduating and have had one day experience in the OR. I really enjoyed it and thought it was interesting. I know that one day isn't a lot of experience in the OR environment, but it's the area I like the most in nursing. I have found a job opening in OR and spoke to a recruiter. He said that the orientation for OR would be 6-12 months, and I would need to be willing to work there for at least 2 years. I was wondering if there are any OR nurses out there who really enjoy/hate their job and have advice for me whether or not I should start out on Med/Surg first, or go right into OR. What do you like/hate about your job?
Thank you very much for any information.
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April 12th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Welcome to the OR!
I came to surgery straight out of nursing school. It’s been a wild 2 years. The orientation is long because so much of the core for surgical nursing is not covered in school- or even touched on in some programs.
Things to consider before settling on OR:
1. You have little contact with awake patients. I get an immense feeling of pride when I can stand up for an asleep patient’s wishes, but some nurses need that patient face time.
2. You will see lots of blood. Surprisingly, not everyone thinks about it. If you can’t stand the sight or smell of it, there are other areas of nursing better suited for you.
3. You can have a great relationship with your team. The surgical team appears to be much closer to our docs than the nurses I’ve seen in other units. We get pages from nurses who dont even know the doc’s gender! Surgeons will get to know you over time, and in generally seem to value us as integral team members.
4. You will need to commit time to learning the surgical environment. I’ve been precepting one of our new interns this past month, and I love to challenge her by asking questions to make her think, instead of giving her the answers. Almost every time I ask her something, I am still amazed at how much I’ve learn these past 2 years.
5. Choose your hospital carefully. I work in the county hospital/trauma center for a large metropolitan area. We see almost every kind of case imaginable. But think of what you are interested in. Not ever hospital does neurosurgery, or they may only occasionally do plastics. Try to find a place that does cases that work with your value system. Private hospitals care for a very different group of surgical patients than county facilities.
As for starting in med-surg, that’s up to you. Some days I feel like I’m less of a nurse than colleagues who have worked “on the floor” but that’s mostly due to their additional knowledge set. Don’t waste time doing something you know you will hate! Many ORs like to get fresh grads with no preconceived notions others want you to be more experienced and comfortable as a nurse. I found that as nervous as I was, cases seemed to go about the same with all my fellow interns when we first finished.
Good luck, I hope you find a great home in nursing!
April 20th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Like Silver, I started in the OR right out of nursing school. I’ve been doing it for almost 3 years and I still love it.
For me, I get enough face time with patients and their families to do what I love, which is teach as well as provide comfort especially before something as daunting as surgery. When I scrub, I have a front seat to the wonders of the human body as well as the technology used during procedures.
As for the positive/negative aspects, it all depends on where you are… I started at a large university hospital (level III) where the circulating nurses did not pick up patients from the holding area, so I didn’t get the opportunity to teach, meet the families, nor practice some of my nursing skills(pre-op assessment). The atmosphere was very much like high school – which I hated. Lots of drama among the staff, but I think that was a trickle down affect from management which was horrible. The procedures performed at this OR were very interesting, sometimes even groundbreaking. It wasn’t enough for me to stay because I need work with people I respect.
Now I am at busy Level I trauma center that started as a community hospital and has grown into a large medical center. The community hospital feel hasn’t left – so people are very down-to-earth, hard-working, and friendly. It is a teaching hospital as well. While working at a Level I trauma center is exciting because of the life/death situations you see, it can also be draining depending the call requirements. For now, taking call is fine (I have the energy and desire – and the need for the extra $).
As for training, 6-12 months is normal. Honestly, I still feel like I learn something new every day after all this time. Also, it can depend on your speciality how long your orientation period is – if that’s how your hospital works. The university hospital required that I rotate through all the specialities (even the biggies like neuro, hearts, and ortho). The Level I where I work now only required orientation through 4 “services.” Personally, having exposure to all the services has made me more confident and ready to tackle anything versus some of my current co-workers who freak out if they aren’t in their specialty.
Well, good luck!!! I hope you like the OR as much as I do… 🙂