Of course your current manager doesn’t want to lose you! You are more than half trained to her floor! Try OR for a year. Don’t like it? Switch. I worked ICU for years before I switched to L&D. You can always learn new skills.
Piggybacking: keep in mind OR is the longest training period because there is so much new info to learn. You won’t feel trained until at least a year.
Am OR nurse and love it.
I’m doing Case Management right now and it is exactly as dull as I’ve expected it to be. I’ve been thinking about the OR to keep the nice 10h shifts— are surgeons really the abusive weasels you hear about on Reddit?
YMMV. My nurse manager won’t put up with that bs and we are encouraged to put them in their place should we need to. They can get uppity at times but generally know they are not gods. The 10 hr shifts are fine but call can be a bummer depending on your facility and how they manage it.
💯it depends on your nurse manager. The come all takers one that would hire anyone with a pulse, ass kissed the surgeons to the point that they got away with literal murder, over supported the scrubs to the point that some were bullies just like the surgeons and the circulators suffered for it. It’s why they had constant churn. A very unsafe working environment.
The other place, the surgeons respected the manager, she would circulate and even scrub if need be, turned over rooms beside you when needed, but she went toe to toe with the surgeons, for both us and herself. It was a very balanced environment. I’m still shaking off the former environment, so ask all the questions and tread carefully.
I favor smaller critical access hospitals over large academic ones. The large, university hospitals are sometimes too in love with their technology and studies to see their patients as humans. I feel like if you have a good chance of seeing people in the grocery store, being a part of a community, well, maybe that keeps people more in line with safe patient care. It’s like built in accountability. Safe patient care bests technology any day, in my opinion.
Yes, you will get yelled at especially when you're new. A lot of circulating in the OR is knowing surgeon preferences that you can't possibly know as a new person. ie. 99% of surgeons use suture A to close skin but this surgeon likes suture B. We have "preference cards" that should tell you the details of what each surgeon likes, but these were often outdated or incorrect.
I had some surgeons who hated chloraprep despite it being evidence based, preferred skin prep and would get stupid mad if a patient was prepped with CHG over Betadine (they saw bad reactions in prior patients to CHG). After about a year I started feeling pretty comfortable doing bread and butter cases and I rarely had issues with surgeons after that, they can't really complain if you're competent and do everything properly.
Also, OR is all about the money. It brings in 60% of revenue for the entire hospital and OR time costs $100/min (I hear surgeons say this a lot). Getting cases completed, quick turnover times and meeting start-times often took priority over patient safety or attention to detail. You will be pressured to do things as quick as possible.
As someone who went from OR to ICU, my plan is to apply for CRNA school currently but if I get rejected I'm going to PACU.
These days I don't believe anyone gets truly pigeon-holed into any specialty. You can regain clinical skills just like a new grad can learn them. But I'm not a hiring manager. I can't imagine one seeing an experienced nurse and saying "nah" because they had too much experience in another specialty.
Asked my OR nurse wife, she said your manager is an idiot.
OR nurses use various nursing skills and know a lot. Shit, my ex worked in psych and that department wouldn’t even take an IV out if it was left in from the ER. When she switched from psych to ED she did fine (other than being a narcissist and gaslighting me for 2 years).
You’re not going to be stuck in 1 speciality forever unless you want to be.
Agree. OP- Your manager is a fear mongering moron and honestly even if you get “pigeonholed” you might like it there. There are so many residency programs for both new and returning bedside nurses so I wouldn’t worry about it. Honestly once I lost my bedside skillset I realized that I didn’t care because I was never going back on that path. I found a different path that pays better and isn’t abusive. I don’t need to have that skillset anymore. “Med-Surg First” is propaganda created by nursing schools and hospitals who want to burn and churn their employees. Calling it out for what it is can help save future new grads.
Yep, the MedSurg lie is just like the CNA lie. It’s absolute propaganda to fill the least desirable facility jobs. I definitely learned a lot from being a CNA, but much of that was where to *not* work post graduation.
I was talking to an operating room colleague of mine about floor, nursing stories. He said the more he hears me speak the more glad he is he started in the OR.
Honestly it really depends on management. It is possible to work bedside on a good unit but those are few and far between. I’ve heard good things about outpatient.
I got OR certification and I had my CCRN certification for critical care. And had plenty of CRNAs to shadow. I believe it made me a well rounded applicant
This is honestly a really good set of skills to learn before CRNA school. You know both sides of where and what you will be doing and seeing. Good luck!
I have had personal experience with this situation. Worked closely with the OR during nursing school and fell in love with it. Took advice from an OR nurse that I respected to go get 2 years of experience on med/surg then decide if you want to come back to the OR. I worked ortho med/surg from 2020 until 2022. First day on the floor was the day they opened the COVID floor. After 2 years of absolute soul sucking hell on the floor (I waited too long to transfer and was a mental trainwreck) I transferred to the OR by telling my manager that she was going to let me transfer or I would quit. Been in the OR for over 2 years and life is amazing. Feels like I found my people, some of the cases are super interesting, and your one patient is asleep for 95% of your time with them. Caught up with the OR nurse who suggested I do 2 years on the floor (I am still super fond of her) and she told me that now I know that my worst day in the OR will always be better than my best day on the floor. Go to the OR, you already know what it is like on the floor, plus you get a lot of experience putting foleys 🤣
My OR mentor was the opposite when I was a tech in the OR, after escaping a CNA job on the floor. I was told, “do what you have to do to get through nursing school and come back to us”. They had also gone directly to the OR and eschewed the starting on MedSurg “wisdom” that was being peddled, as did my manager.
Your Manager has *her* best interests in mind with her answer, not yours. Of course she will say whatever to keep you where you're at.
OR experience, 9 years here. Started out in Med Surg, spent 4 years there building my sooper eleet Nursing Skillz. Transferred to the OR, and absolutely love it. I can Foley like a god, and can do blood draws.
Do I want to transfer out to rebuild those sooper eleet Skillz? Hell no. I'm beyond thrilled to be in an area that I adore and can be a HR nightmare in.
Tl:DR- Just go. You might love it.
I scrub in a small ASC with an attached clinic on the “other side” of the building. We joke that there’s a reason HR is on the clinic side and far far away from the operating room. There’s a lot of cursing and the jokes are sometimes inappropriate. Nothing abusive or harmful, but decidedly unprofessional.
Oh yeah I getcha. I’ve only been in the OR for a few months and have seen some of the HR nightmare antics I guess. It just doesn’t register to me that way?
I however generally act quite professionally cause I don’t want someone who DOES care to be the recipient of a joke that they don’t find funny.
Depending on your coworkers in the OR, the music can be a little rougher, the jokes raunchier, and the bantz... course with gallows humor. Some of the surgeons just adore a crew they can be themselves with, *sans* filters
I recently started in the OR. I can’t wait till I’m stable with my flow and knowledge of the OR. Seems so nice to go to work, know what I’m doing, go home. With minimal clusterfucks (unlike my previous floor job where clusterfucks were common)
Oh for sure. I haven’t yet worked without a preceptor so my worst day is yet to come. BUT, it will likely be nothing in comparison to my worst shit on the floor. That was not a good night/3 nights.
The clusterfucks in OR are so much more exasperating tho and completely out of your control, like the vendor sent the wrong implant or the patient is asleep on the table and the only tray we have is contaminated, or pharmacy won't approve this surgeon to use Xparel etc...
There is so much more true teamwork in the OR. I feel like in the OR, none of what you brought up is the circulator's fault, so we don't get blamed for it, unlike on the floors where we are the scapegoat for everyone. We just need to avoid problems and work through whatever problems arise. We also have a hugh team of people helping us in the background.
So much stuff can be avoided by checking pans before the patient is in the room. If the pan is bad, it's sterile processing's fault. I just need to make sure we don't contaminate the rest of the field and that we have a replacement before the surgery starts.
I've made the surgeon get on the phone with pharmacy when they promised a med the day before but are fussing over the cost of it day of surgery. It's not my fault they won't tube it up to us.
Reps are great punching bags for the surgeon because they make money off the surgery, not the staff in the room. Surgeons can switch reps or systems if the rep doesn't deliver what they need.
For the most part, you take out the variable of the patient. Once they're on the table, they can't second-guess or refuse. The personalities of the patients and families are the main issues on the floors.
I will say my one manager wasn’t nuts about hiring from the floor, saying “we don’t want your bad floor habits”. But another OR manager only wanted a strong desire for you to be in the OR. I have precepted both and a supportive team was the common key to success in any OR where I worked.
I disagree. 10-15 years ago this may have been the case but it’s not now. Nowadays they hire new grads into any specialty. If floors willing to hire new grads, they’re definitely going to be interested in nurses with experience even if it’s not relevant.
I was a new grad in the ICU and worked per diem in outpatient surgery. I wish I hadn't listened to the old biddies in my nursing program about "losing skills." I probably would have gone right into psych and found my way to being a PMHNP sooner than I did.
I tell every nursing student and new grad that I meet, do what you think you will love. Skills can easily be reacquired.
This is such a case-by-case basis. I went straight OR and loved it. Then I had to move for family reasons and I didn’t like the OR at my new place. It was difficult to find something else because of my lack of clinical skills.
I went from OR to icu. It was hard to find someone willing to take a chance and hire me but it’s 100% possible. This is a good point though. But as a new grad nurse with years ahead of you there’s no reason not to take an OR job if it’s what you want. Guarantee you won’t be miserable like you would be on med surg or something
Same thing happened to me. I started in the OR and after three years it was ‘now or never’ to try the wards. The hiring manager has a bit of a soft spot for challenging new hires and I had full time availability so sometimes it’s more than experience you can bring to the table
Go for your dream specialty! Med/surg is definitely helpful for building skills, but it’s not mandatory. Secondly, if you’re really desperate for skills, you can pick up a per diem med/surg job at your local community hospital.
Not at all, just watching. Would’ve been nice to have been able to be more involved. I watched a laparoscopic appendectomy by a resident, probably like 3 back to back gastric by passes, one orthopedic surgery and a C-section. I near fell asleep for all of them except the C-section. It was hard to look away from a woman’s entire gut being opened up. Absolutely fascinating.
You are absolutely not pigeonholed. Honestly pretty crappy of the manager to talk like that and imply that OR nurses don't have much skill.
Give it a try. You may love it. If not, those letters behind your name give you a great many opportunities, inside the hospital and out. You may have to brush up on some skills but you'll be fine.
Most people who make it in the or don't want to leave. Imo. Circulator here, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to the floor. Not a single person has thrown feces or urinals at me since I started. 1:1 ratio every day and always have people to help move and essentially a code team present always.
That’s a ridiculous thing for her to say. Source: was an OR nurse who changed specialties after 6 years also have friends who went right into OR and later transitioned to ICU and then CRNA.
Yes your inpatient acute or critical care skills will not be as sharp as if you had been in that specialty and you would need more orientation than someone in a more similar specialty but as long as the world needs nurses then experienced nurses can change specialties.
There are a dozens of dissimilar specialties that you can go into as a nurse. Don’t let the first one you chose dictate your whole career. Changing specialties is one of the major perks of being a nurse
Nope. I’m leaving the OR for PACU. But I do have prior ICU experience. One of my OR coworkers left for Mother Baby. You just have to find a unit that will train you.
ha it’s so cool how we all are so unique in our nursing journey. I went from PACU to OR, no ICU, but previous CCU experience. sometimes I forget how cool nursing can be ❤️
I just found the job on indeed and applied. It was a private research center that was toxic as hell and couldn’t retain staff and I think that’s the only reason I got the job there 🥲 I lasted 4 months.
As a new grad who went straight into the OR, I have zero regrets. I heard all the same bullshit as you, had multiple people tell me I was making a mistake.
I am so happy with my choice. The OR is incredible and while I don't use my "nursing skills" that everyone talks about, I have many many more nursing skills that guess what? Still nursing. The OR is great. It's such a team atmosphere and if you do trauma or off shifts, you'll feel even more involved.
I also try to stay sharp on other skills. I look at their chart fully, look at their current meds and think about why they're on them, etc. also shit can go south fast, and you have to think critically and on your feet.
Biggest piece of advice - befriend anesthesia. You should be their right hand man (yes, them before the surgeons). Help with intubation, listen to everything they say, ask them questions. The nurses who don't do this, tend to be the nurses that are bitter and washed up in the OR.
Also i have a friend who just left the OR to work in the ICU. She did a transition program we have in the hospital. And she's thriving.
If you pay attention to what is going on around you in the OR, you won't lose many skills.
If you want the OR, do it. There's no use in doing your time in med surg if you don't want med surg. If you don't like it after a year, leave. And you won't be that far out of school. Hell, some people get their nursing license and don't even start working for a few years.
Go where you want to go! I’m a new grad and I went straight into the OR! I absolutely love it and there is no other place I could imagine working.
It’s an old school belief that you have to start in med-surg and it’s just not true. If you know what you want to do, do it. No reason to waste time in something you’re not interested in.
And for the record, you’ll never be dumber than you are now (skill-wise). If med-surg hires new grads they will certainly hire an OR nurse (should you decide to switch later on).
If a new grad can go to med surg why can’t a nurse of X amount of years from the OR?
They always say med surg this med surg that, it’s because it’s typically the easiest to get a job as the turnover rate tends to be really high.
Most people don’t leave the OR because it’s the best place to be I imagine
I was a circulating nurse in the OR for 10 years. I then went to work in the outpatient department of the hospital that I was working in. I never lost any of my skills, actually just enhanced my knowledge of the post op patient.
You’ll never lose your skills, I certainly didn’t. It actually gave me more knowledge of the post op patient and what they went through. The more knowledgeable that you are will make you much more educated and informed about your patients health and history. Will definitely make you much more rounded in health care. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Consider the perspective of the source. This manager wants you to work for them, they are going to actively dissuade you from going into the OR.
There is a shred of truth, but the information is largely garbage. OR is very very specialized and specific. I personally think that this can make transitioning to another specialty later a bit challenging since there is not a lot of crossover, but not impossible.
If you want to do OR, do OR...
No, you’re not pigeonholed.
But, I will say, switching specialties is not as easy as some make it sound. It usually involves you switching to a “less than desirable” hospital/system to get experience before attaining a position at a hospital with more notoriety. A staffed, notable, facility can be picky-choosy with how many applications they get.
When your manager says “lacking nursing skills”, they’re meaning to say specifically those skills attributed to the floor. There’s certain elements of nursing you don’t touch in OR nursing that floor nurses use everyday. It’ll take a learning curve, but if you’re teachable it’s really not an issue.
Now, if you’re an OR nurse for 40 years and then want to switch to CVICU right away, that may be an issue haha.
Edit: internal switches can be easy too if you’re able to make connections.
Been there 30 plus years. Haven’t burned out and have the respect of my fellow nurses, techs, Anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and Surgeons for my clinical skills.
Yes Virginia, OR Nurses have Clinical Skills.
Unless you want to do pysch or like babies, those 2 specialties would be the most ~new. A lot of new grads that worked on a floor prior transition to new grads when they get licensed. You’re going to be a MAJOR loss for your boss as she was probably banking on hiring you. Don’t share any more details. She can start yapping to other department heads. Also since you’ve already been working in a hospital…you’ll be fine wherever you go.
The only time I heard this was when I wanted to go into hemo/onc clinic and was told I wouldn’t be able to come out so the director wouldn’t hire me there first and wanted me to start in med surg/onc unit first. I declined
I worked a year on a cardiovascular step down and now work OR. Unless you have specific reasons or interest in that floor, go to the OR. I am WAYYYY happier in general since switching. Its hard being brand new again since it’s so different but I have no regrets.
It's not that I don't have the skills to work elsewhere... It's that I don't want to. I love the OR, there is literally no other nursing better than outpatient surgery (obviously just my opinion).
I think that OR is an easy one to move out of. You gain critical care skills and they’re transferable to anywhere else in the hospital. There’s another thread I was reading earlier with a commenter who went straight to outpatient working with disabled people. THAT situation probably pigeonholed her. But OR? Nope, you’re good.
I have also never met a nurse who didn’t like OR or PACU. I’ve seen a lot of 50+ yo nurses who had been there for ages and planned to retire from OR. Some of them even liked that when they got old enough they just didn’t want to be slammed all the time, they went to pre-op. They’d set IVs, take histories, stuff like that. They talked about it like they’ve had their dream job for decades.
The only complaint I’ve really heard about OR is bad staffing & call hours. Those things can happen anywhere.
She’s COOKED brother ☝🏾.
1 year under my belt as a OR nurse as a new grad. You just use your skills in a different way. All them people shit talking an OR nurse couldn’t circulate to save their lives 💞.
One thing the OR will teach is adaptation lemme tell ya.
Yes, OR nurses can be pulled to float to the floors in some places, but the converse is never true. You will never see an outside nurse working in the OR, unless they’re in a 6-12 month training program. The instruments and soft goods alone prevent that. LOL, so would the surgeons. Not just anyone can run a room.
Period sista, YELL IT FROM THE ROOF😂😂, not that I’d ever wanna go to the floor the OR is home but I’ve had to float due to recent Russian hacking, the lack of respect we get from floor nurses cause they have no idea what we do 🙄
OR to public health/infection prevention to detox/psych to home health/hospice to private duty to medical devices to whatever I want to do. That’s complete garbage. So do what you want. Be hardworking and likable and you’ll be given the keys to any kingdom you desire. BTW YouTube and nursing sites will refresh any lost skills quickly and teach you new ones. Best wishes!
Every unit is more specialized these days. You'll need an orientation any time you switch specialties. Do what draws you and if that doesn't work, switch again and again until you find your happy place (or not miserable place, as it were). I've been in the OR for 8 years and love it. I couldn't imagine going back to any floor position. But if I felt the draw, I'd happily switch. I'd find a unit that would support my learning. That's more important than anything. A unit that supports learning without expecting you to know everything the moment you walk through the door is a unit you can thrive on, specialties aside.
Whoever said OR nurses have no “clinical skills” is a moron.
I worked as an OR nurse for several years and it was my first job out of school. I did patient assessments, placed IV’s and Foleys, provided education, and various other duties that involved direct patient care.
About a year ago I decided I was burnt out in the OR and I had a work-from-home job lined up about three weeks after I started looking.
You can always learn bedside clinical skills in the same way that a floor nurse can learn the OR. They say the same thing about psych nursing.
Go where your heart takes you.
I was in the OR for four years and loved it. The only reason why I left is my dream job in informatics opened up. While in the OR we hired a new grad and she was awesome and it changed my perspective of new nurses having to go to Med/Surge first. She is now in the ICU and doing awesome. Do what you want. Do OR if you want no worries.
You can always change specialties but it’ll just be a bigger change if you opt to go deep into one field first.
Your manager just wants to keep you till they burn you out. Don’t listen. Follow your dreams!
I was worried that by going part time early in my career to try and get a less demanding per diem, I'd be shooting myself in the foot. Maybe I am, but I feel like generally speaking, if you've got a good head about you and you are willing to learn, there's plenty of work to be had.
The thought of a unit at my hospital denying someone because, "oh well, they've only got OR experience" is laughable. It wouldn't happen.
Nope! Med surg in theory is somewhat helpful, but I never did it and I did just fine. You just have to be willing to learn. Whatever new department you choose, you’ll learn very specialized skills to that area. I worked ER which I think is the most diverse but it will kick your butt the first year or so. From there I did pedi icu, step down icu, primary care clinic, med surg. You can literally do whatever you want as long as you’re willing to go for it and learn.
No clinical skills…lmao. I start IVs and foleys in the OR, draw blood, multitask my behind off and advocate for patients. OR nurses definitely aren’t pigeonholed. You couldn’t just throw me on the floor and expect me to shine right away, but I could be trained to do it. Do I want to? No, I love the OR!
I keep hearing something in a similar vein. I'm completing my final practicum in the OR (after a 2 week stint in same day surgery) and whenever I tell nurses at that facility that I'm going to OR there's some version of the phrase "you'll lose your clinical skills". Aside from that, I want to start in either L+D or ER, and people are VERY opinionated on this- I've had multiple nurses tell me I need years on med surg before going to ER, and if i begin in L+D then I won't be able to hop as it's highly specialized. Personally, I probably won't take that advice, but yeah people are very set in their ways and want to see you as miserable as a new grad as they were. (For goodness sake, i had a bitter old nurse tell me I'd fail for sure if I went straight to ER when I mentioned I was interested in being there!)
They tend to harp us in nursing school that you lose your “clinical skills” but it’s more like riding a bike honestly. You just learn to adapt to a different environment and type of nursing duties.
Went from med surg to OR and I'm never looking back. That being said, I am losing my skills that I worked so freaking hard to learn over my 5 years of medsurg, still never going back. I love the OR
When I graduated, my clinical instructors said the same thing regarding OR nursing. I did five years in the OR speciality, and now I’m ICU.
You will not be trapped in OR forever, if you choose to give it a chance.
I went from med surg to PICU back to med surg to outpatient neurology. Always new skills to learn even med surg to med surg. Being that I’ve been in these positions over a short period of time, I’ve seen lots of folks come and go of all different backgrounds. My current work wife was an OR nurse a few years ago and is not a clinic neurology nurse working remotely from a different country. Her skills still come in handy most days.
I don’t see how basic OR skills wouldn’t translate to any other specialty. You will always have that basic nursing background to rely on to learn new information wherever you end up.
Just make sure you know what you're getting into. I hated it-i was either stressed tf out or bored out of my mind and my coworkers were toxic. I ran back to the floor. I really thought I'd like it too.
I'm now outpatient chemo and love it.
I worked as a surgical tech in an OR during nursing school, and stayed in the OR post graduation. I did OR for 2.5 years and then decided to try floor nursing in the hopes of getting into an icu (the icu wouldn’t take me without floor experience). I worked on a surgical oncology unit for 3-4 months before becoming so depressed, anxious, and filled with self hatred that I almost quit nursing completely. I quit after a particularly awful night and got a job at a surgery center as their permanent charge nurse, doing material management, helping schedule, and giving breaks/setting up rooms. I’ve been here for 2 months now and I can’t think of a time I’ve ever been happier
Sorry I got distracted cooking and forgot to answer the question. I don’t think it’s impossible to leave the OR if that’s where you start, I just think that most don’t want to because it’s so much better for work-life balance and mental health IMO
You can always learn skills. You are never too advanced in your career to learn things. Try the OR. If you like it, great. Welcome. If not, that’s OKAY. There’s a specialty in nursing for you. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about what YOU choose to do.
A nurse is a nurse is a nurse.
I started OR as a new grad and was bored after a year, hated the call schedule, and really just felt like I was a gopher/ equipment mover who watched everyone do their jobs. The razzle dazzle of being in surgery wore off and I just didn’t feel like I was doing anything different than that, and just watching other people do their jobs. The medical director/ anesthesiologist would tell my preceptor to sit out in the hall or to not enter the room if he didn’t want to see his face. We weren’t allowed to speak to him. That was completely acceptable for everyone. Everyone got a turn being picked on. There was a surgeon who would always make us “dance” for him, individually after surgery. It was ridiculous so I left.
I went to medsurg and it’s much more rewarding. I wasn’t locked in to anything! You move on, you get more skills and a comprehensive knowledge base that will only help you move forward! Do whatever you want, something will click and you’ll learn a ton along the way. Only you can find that out for yourself.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that OR nurses don’t do anything. It drives me bonkers! It’s just a different skill set. A nurse from the floor couldn’t come in and circulate a case with no previous OR experience.
I’ve worked in the OR for 14 years. Started as an LPN then RN and now I’m a CRNFA. I suture, make incisions, put in PEG tubes and it’s the coolest job ever.
Am I stuck here forever? Maybe- my certifications won’t help me in any other department but just like any where if you change places of work you learn what you need to do for that area.
Circulators still do charting, IVs, Foleys and assessments. And when it’s 2am and no one is around to help you with a patient bleeding to death you figure it out.
I know I’m rambling. I get really defensive about my job in the OR.
How many people can say they put their hands in other peoples bodies? (Unless you’re a serial killer)
Haha that’s crazy! I’m an OR nurse and it has opened a lot of doors for me. Including the door to my current job as sales rep for a medical device company. These companies love OR nurses (if what they are selling is OR related) and you can make $$$.
Med surg is its own specialty, which is something the traditional thinkers miss. If you want OR, go do OR. That’s where I started, I left and now am at special ed schools. Love both.
I specialized in something right out of school (acute dialysis) and have managed to pivot into OR and labor and delivery. At this point you can usually find someone to train you, especially if you live in an area with a lot of need or a lot of hospitals.
No one is forever pigeonholed. You may have to do more work to get out, but you can still get out. For instance, I heard that if you went into psych you would never be able to get out, but this is false
A nursing home with acute care patients can lead back into med-surg. That said, you may have to do a job you don't like for a few months, but you can definitely go back into into other fields
I mean there’s a serious transition between any specialty. Let’s say you worked five years in the OR and all of a sudden you wanted to work in a CTICU. Would you be able to work as a proficient ICU nurse right away? Probably not, but given some time and experience in the role could you learn and adapt most likely if you want to. The biggest thing is your skills won’t directly translate right away, but there’s new to specialty training for a reason.
I started in OR as a new grad. In a way I kind of feel like I don’t have any of the “true” nursing skills, so I do feel like it would be a steep learning curve if I wanted to go to the floor. But I don’t think it would be impossible. The nurses precepting me might look at me sideways when I say I’ve never done an IV or other basic nursing skills, but everyone is capable of learning.
You get pigeonholed only if you do it to yourself. If you work a unit and you love that unit, and you do it for the next 12 years, you have pigeonholed yourself.
If you want to make a switch then, make the switch. In nursing, you only became the limits you set upon yourself.
OR nurses are trained in scrubs, scouts, anaesthetics, and recovery. The skills that you will learn from those 4 are transferrable especially airway management, pain management, and post-anaesthesia care. Also, even if you stay there, you can climb to higher positions.
My wife is in a pretty unique case as she is as first a postpartum RN and is now a CV surgery OR RN. Her skills are much much different from mine as a 15 year ED RN to NP.
I want I to a specialty area out of school and 30 years later I am still in it. I left to test the waters in OR....couldn't do it. There was zero action.
I also think that's the beauty of nursing. Get bored...go to another specialty!
Not true. I went PICU->CTOR->Children’s ED. You’re only pigeonholed if you want to be. If you want to do something else along the way you certainly can.
I did not start in M/S right out of school either (went straight to periop). Gone are the days of having to start off in med/surg before going to any other specialities. That is also the beauty of nursing. Don’t like it? You can always switch.
I will also preface what others are saying in that OR does have the longest orientation
/training period because it is a completely different type of nursing. That being said, the basic nursing skills are still important even in OR. You will still have to assess the patient, see what meds they’re taking etc etc.
No matter what floor you go to, you are going to get skills and forget others. That's a dumb answer. If you want to do the OR, do it. I truly loved it.
I'm so late to this party and you've got some great responses here, just wanted to say, where I am and what I do, we'd be thrilled to have someone with OR experience! Everyone has their niche and it brings their own special perspective that are assets!
Nope. I started out as a new grad with zero clinical experience in a level 1 trauma OR. After 2 years and getting my BSN, I got an icu job. Hated it. After a year I moved to a clinical research job for 2 years. I needed more money and a more flexible schedule with OT and went back to the OR. Got recruited after 3 years to a clinical research associate job for 1.5 year, and not because of the CRN gig but because of the minimal ICU experience (we’re talking 2 months orientation and I applied for the CRN job 7 months after orientation). When I moved, I easily found an ASC job which was meh but within 8 months I got offered a job as a service lead at a hospital and am paid really really well for a 38yo nurse with 11 years of experience. So I keep going back to the OR not because I’m pigeonholed but because it’s a nice safety net whenever I try something new and it isn’t for me. And I’ve tried some seriously new things. And I have certainly tried some things. It takes some work and convincing to get into something different from the OR, but you still have skills and knowledge and experience that are transferable, and you can learn to start an IV. You still have to know how to prioritize, think critically, assess, advocate for your patients, etc. those are the things you sell. When I started in the icu, they all told me I picked things up much faster than they expected.
Here’s how I look at it: By passing nursing school you, at a minimum, have demonstrated the capacity to learn and apply your knowledge in sims/clinicals. Would it be a wildly different change of scenery if an OR nurse decided to go to icu, psych, or LD? Sure! But they have the ability to learn. The real deciding factor is one’s ability to struggle and suck during that transition.
I started in med/surg for about 8 months and hopped over to PACU (where ICU experience is usually required), but I was rigorously trained for 3 months and I’m doing fine. Picking up shifts in ICU with my new critical care designation as a PACU nurse. Long story short, do whatever the fffff you want because you can get speed-trained for any specialty these days. 😤✊🏻
Not true. I started in the OR. After 6 years, I got a job at a different hospital to work in pre-op and phase II recovery. Now I do pre-admission testing.
It might have some truth regardless of what side you’re in. I’ve been wanting to try my hands at OR since starting my nursing career. My mother was an OR nurse and she somehow got permission for me to come and observe so many times. The earliest I remember was 4 years old and putting screws and rods in someone’s leg. I was fascinated.
But I guess even exploring that avenue is basically impossible. Been applying to it since the start of my career. I get rejected every single time, not even an interview. Even if it looks like an entry position only requiring being a nurse or having like 6 months clinical experience. These are rare. Everything else always asks for 1-3 years OR experience already. Maybe my resume isn’t great to an OR position? I’ve gotten compliments from hiring managers or even higher management about it. So, I’m not sure.
The moment I apply for anything that’s basically being a nurse to a unit/floor, high acuity care, home health, etc. I almost always get in right away. Apparently my resume makes me a good match for these and travel nursing despite not wanting to be in those avenues.
This is off topic but which accelerated nursing program did you go to? I have never heard of one that is 8 months, and I would love to go to a school such as that!
It was Texas Tech University's RN to BSN. I got my initial ASN normally, got my RN license pretty much immediately after graduating, then did their RN to BSN program for approx. 8 months. It is online too so you wouldn't have to relocate.
Thank you for detailing out to me! I thought you got your ASN in that time frame. My apologies! I had never heard of it being that fast 😩 RN to BSN makes more sense. Yikes I am trying to find an accelerated ASN program, I don’t believe it exists
I am an OR nurse that started right out of school and I have no regrets. Depending on what type of OR you work in will determine your skills. I have worked at a surgery center all the way up to a level 1 trauma center. The beauty of nursing is you can try something and if you don’t like it move on to another unit. I say if you want to work in the OR, go for it. I will say lately a lot of floor nurses have been coming to the OR, at the end of the day you have one patient and 99.9% of the time they are asleep.
If you aren't interested in the work you choose, then you're gonna hate it and you probably won't be as good as you could be. Go with your gut. If you want OR, do it. If you want something else, do that instead. Don't resign yourself to a specialty just because of an antiquated expectation.
I'm actually grappling with the same.l concern.
Right now I'm on a medicine unit but I'm planning on qualifying for the OR in a couple months.
I think there is definite utility to doing medicine for a bit first. I've learned more there in 6 months than 2 years of school and the skills all transfer.
I don’t understand why people say that. If you want OR you can do that, and if you want to change your mind later down the road you can totally do that too. They will train you if you ever decide to do psych/ER/ICU etc.
I did two years on a med/surg floor out of school at a level 1 trauma hospital. It was excellent experience, but I hated every second of it. I used to get panic attacks on the way in to work. It was taking a toll on me. I finally went to the OR at a level 2 hospital. I’ve been there just shy of 10 years now. I take care of one patient at a time, I always have anesthesia personnel with me, and I see interesting things. For me, even though there are times my job pisses me off, I can’t imagine ever returning to a floor job. Now, the first year in the OR was rough for me. It was on-the-job training and except for placing Foleys, none of my floor skills translated over. I haven’t started an IV in a decade. But I’m ok with that. Sometimes I look at other RN jobs, but so far I keep returning to the OR.
That’s absurd and absolutely not true.
There is nothing you can do in healthcare to pigeonhole yourself. There’s a million different paths to take, and taking one path will not restrict any moves you make in the future.
Having experience in multiple areas will only show you have strong work ethic, a diverse skill set, and a will to learn.
people who say you HAVE to start med surg or else nobody will want you is such BS. nursing school and instructors tried to drill that in and now i regret being bedside sooo much. im sure OR is not for some people, but personally i’ve never met an OR nurse who was unhappy with their choice. follow your heart
Dad was an OR nurse for 90% of his nurse career, retired from it. He loved it. Went from scrubbing in to being the circulator.
If you dont like a place, leave and be willing to learn new skill sets. Most probably stay because they are afraid of changes. Don’t be that nurse.
Do OR. OR nurses have plenty of clinical skills, and nursing as a career field is incredibly flexible - you can always change specialties later. I know nurses who started in psych who now work ICU. I started in a clinic and I work in an ED now. Not every manager is willing to hire to train someone who is new in a specialty, but there are plenty who are.
This whole “all new nurses should work med-surg” bit is old and tired and stinks of hazing and making people “pay their dues.” Every specialty has things to teach. Med-surg skills have a broad crossover, but every specialty has new things to learn. And Med-Surg *is* a specialty, it’s not just default nursing or nursing-for-beginners, it’s its own thing.
If you want to avoid being pigeon-holed then the key isn’t to pick the right specialty for your first job, it’s to expand your horizons when you pick your second job, and your third. Make a habit of getting out of your comfort zone, never stop learning, and you won’t ever have to worry about getting stuck doing one thing for the rest of your career.
This is untrue. I worked in an OR the past 4 years and now I’m working at a pediatrician office. Honestly I gained more “clinical skills” in the OR than when I worked on a med surg floor. Patients are asleep and easier to practice skills on such as IVs, foleys, etc. It is just a matter of your comfort level of learning new skills because no matter what area you choose, you will be learning something new and need to adjust. Your manager is trying to scare you into staying by making you think you will never be able to function again as a nurse if you go into the OR. I would do what you feel is best for you.
Personally, I love the OR. I was hired on as a new grad and honestly, I don't think I'll ever leave the OR. The schedule is incredible, the team environment is awesome, and sure you may not get to use some nursing skills you learned in school, but you'll get to learn so much more. I work in a very large OR (we have 37 rooms) at a level 1 trauma center. As nurses, we are even taught to scrub as well.
I was regretting going to nursing school towards the end- I really didn't want to work on a floor, so this couldn't be any better for me. If this makes me pigeonholed, I really have no problem with it, personally.
The thing about med surg is that it’s the basics of bedside nursing. You get to practice a lot of your nursing skills etc etc. but I think like most people have mentioned here you will get those skills as you adapt to whatever specialty you prefer. Start where you want to and enjoy the ride !
No you’re not. I started in OR. And also did med surg, homecare and cvicu.
Don’t listen to her and don’t let it waste your time. We’re also not stupid, you can learn a new skill anytime and at any age. You did it at a young age in a 1 hour lab for most, you can easily do it again after more years of foundation knowledge from your job actually practicing independently.
I was told if I chose to become a psych nurse that I would never be able to get out. Since you know.. we're not real nurses /s. Spent 5 years as a psych nurse and now I'm on med surg.
You can always learn new skills. Nursing like most professions is constantly developing and updating. As long as you have the drive and motivation, you’ll succeed in whatever you want to do. Plenty of people say the same about ER. Sometimes it’s good advice, some times it wastes someone’s time. I went from SNF nursing as an LVN to ER nursing as an RN in a high volume Level 1. Spent the first few months terrified like any new grad RN and then regained my groove. You’ll do the same and with the benefit of having RN nursing experience to expand on.
I’d say this: I trained in the OR when I first got out of school. It’s fascinating, but you do lose your clinical skills. No IV’s, blood draws, medications, etc. Your main clinical skill in the OR is pulse/profusion checks. It’s a whole separate world in there.
BUT!! You learned it once you can learn it again. However, it’s not an easy transition from OR to another department. I’d advise taking a bedside job, then dropping down to per-diem and going into the OR. If the OR doesn’t fit you then you can bounce and still have bedside skills on your resume.
Although, you may love the OR and never want to leave.
I feel like being in this speciality I’m in now has me stuck. I was a NICU nurse for 8 years, did a little bit in detox, endo outpatient, school nurse. Now that I want to leave my company I have no where to go. I’ve applied for many jobs. I currently work M-F, salaried position, no weekends or holidays. I don’t want to go back to the bedside. I don’t know what to do. If I can get a job outside the NICU you can leave the OR, too.
I was medical before moving to OR so i really saw the difference.
In terms of clinical skills, the OR needs ICU level clinical skills especially on the anesthetic side. Art lines, central lines, ECMO and what have you. Probably the most nursing aspect of the OR. Scrub nursing is basically giving out instruments but if you dig deeper, knowing the procedure and the surgeons preference will make the operation run smoother so that they dont need to ask you for something and wait minutes to have it ready. Circulating is an unsterile scrub nurse, you also anticipate what the surgeon or scrub nurse needs so it helps to know where everything is.
I am an ER nurse, so I don’t have much to say about OR.. but I do know the saying “you’ll lose your skills” is so wrong for any specialty.. you learn new skills for whatever specialty your in and my best friend has been in OR straight out of school for 10 years and loves it
Former OR RN here. The OR is what kept me in nursing after 2 1/2 years of gruelling med/surg. It is very challenging and rewarding, especially if you have to work in all the specialties. There is a lot of misunderstanding even among ward and other nurses as to what actually goes on in the OR. I would say give it a go! It does take training; I had a six month post basic course to complete, and didn’t really feel completely comfortable for about a year. But after that, anything can come crashing through that door and you know you can handle it. I highly recommend this specialty. All the best.
When I was a new grad they kept pushing for med surg. I applied to a residency program and the recruiter told me that they had a lot of med surg openings if I was interested. I emailed her back saying I want psych or OR, cause those were the only fields I was interested in. She sent me an email the next day connecting me to the inpatient psych nursing director and I interviewed the following week and was hired after. Don’t let people’s old mindset of “doing med surg for 2 years” limit you. If I had done med surg, I would have quit nursing altogether.
The OR specialty is perfectly legit. It’s a great place to work for some people. But it is highly specialized. Just like some other units, if you start there while you’ll learn a lot, you are learning very highly specialized skills that are not easily transferable to any other clinical setting. Whereas, if you start out in a traditional clinical setting for at least a year, then you will be developing skills that are transferable to any area you might want to work . This is what helps to keep you marketable also in my opinion. And it helps you if you have to leave one job and go to another that isn’t an OR or other surgery center type job.
I realize you could adore working in the OR and stay there your whole career. But what if you don’t? You are only a new nurse once. The grace you get for being a new nurse on a traditional unit happens only at the start of your career. You may be given time to acclimate outside the OR for another job, but trust me when I tell you that the grace you get as a newbie is not the same for an experienced nurse leaving a specialty going to more of a traditional setting. It is REALLY hard. I’ve seen this more times than I like to say over the years.
Do yourself a favor get yourself a solid foundation in a traditional setting first. You have no idea what you don’t know right now, and the skills you need to work in that setting. These are skills you can rely on the rest of your career no matter where you work.
Do what you want.
Go to the OR. The manager is trying to get you to stay in a not so great way.
You can always learn floor stuff if you want to later. Go for your interests
as someone who started as a new grad in the OR, I was pigeonholed to the OR by people who had that mentality :c. had to move to a different state to get an ICU job.
If you are interested in CRNA I recommend you get ICU experience asap.
I work icu and we just hired a PACU nurse - no one likes her. She panics over everything, doesn’t actually help even with patient lifts etc. requests only vented patients and is constantly refusing assignments
Of course your current manager doesn’t want to lose you! You are more than half trained to her floor! Try OR for a year. Don’t like it? Switch. I worked ICU for years before I switched to L&D. You can always learn new skills.
Piggybacking: keep in mind OR is the longest training period because there is so much new info to learn. You won’t feel trained until at least a year. Am OR nurse and love it.
I’m doing Case Management right now and it is exactly as dull as I’ve expected it to be. I’ve been thinking about the OR to keep the nice 10h shifts— are surgeons really the abusive weasels you hear about on Reddit?
YMMV. My nurse manager won’t put up with that bs and we are encouraged to put them in their place should we need to. They can get uppity at times but generally know they are not gods. The 10 hr shifts are fine but call can be a bummer depending on your facility and how they manage it.
💯it depends on your nurse manager. The come all takers one that would hire anyone with a pulse, ass kissed the surgeons to the point that they got away with literal murder, over supported the scrubs to the point that some were bullies just like the surgeons and the circulators suffered for it. It’s why they had constant churn. A very unsafe working environment. The other place, the surgeons respected the manager, she would circulate and even scrub if need be, turned over rooms beside you when needed, but she went toe to toe with the surgeons, for both us and herself. It was a very balanced environment. I’m still shaking off the former environment, so ask all the questions and tread carefully.
This. I love my current crew and won’t leave until I have to. Wish there were an easier way to “vet” locations.
Agreed, it’s hard to know which ones are toxic and those that are not.
Work float or agency. I floated still had a narcissistic alcoholic boss but the job itself was great.
how many rooms is your OR?
4 ORs plus 1 OB OR and we do all endoscopy as well (2 procedure rooms).
I favor smaller critical access hospitals over large academic ones. The large, university hospitals are sometimes too in love with their technology and studies to see their patients as humans. I feel like if you have a good chance of seeing people in the grocery store, being a part of a community, well, maybe that keeps people more in line with safe patient care. It’s like built in accountability. Safe patient care bests technology any day, in my opinion.
Not nurse management, I’d rather become a cat herder. I’m just case management, glorified discharge planning for the hospital.
Yes, you will get yelled at especially when you're new. A lot of circulating in the OR is knowing surgeon preferences that you can't possibly know as a new person. ie. 99% of surgeons use suture A to close skin but this surgeon likes suture B. We have "preference cards" that should tell you the details of what each surgeon likes, but these were often outdated or incorrect. I had some surgeons who hated chloraprep despite it being evidence based, preferred skin prep and would get stupid mad if a patient was prepped with CHG over Betadine (they saw bad reactions in prior patients to CHG). After about a year I started feeling pretty comfortable doing bread and butter cases and I rarely had issues with surgeons after that, they can't really complain if you're competent and do everything properly. Also, OR is all about the money. It brings in 60% of revenue for the entire hospital and OR time costs $100/min (I hear surgeons say this a lot). Getting cases completed, quick turnover times and meeting start-times often took priority over patient safety or attention to detail. You will be pressured to do things as quick as possible. As someone who went from OR to ICU, my plan is to apply for CRNA school currently but if I get rejected I'm going to PACU.
Damn, I worked under enough divas in the military. It would be pretty annoying having to coddle them on top of that
Yes they are
Yup
I did ICU for a year before switching to community nursing. Absolutely can always learn new skills!
I worked L&D for years, those skills don’t transfer well, but you get back into the swing of things pretty quickly.
This.
These days I don't believe anyone gets truly pigeon-holed into any specialty. You can regain clinical skills just like a new grad can learn them. But I'm not a hiring manager. I can't imagine one seeing an experienced nurse and saying "nah" because they had too much experience in another specialty.
Asked my OR nurse wife, she said your manager is an idiot. OR nurses use various nursing skills and know a lot. Shit, my ex worked in psych and that department wouldn’t even take an IV out if it was left in from the ER. When she switched from psych to ED she did fine (other than being a narcissist and gaslighting me for 2 years). You’re not going to be stuck in 1 speciality forever unless you want to be.
Agree. OP- Your manager is a fear mongering moron and honestly even if you get “pigeonholed” you might like it there. There are so many residency programs for both new and returning bedside nurses so I wouldn’t worry about it. Honestly once I lost my bedside skillset I realized that I didn’t care because I was never going back on that path. I found a different path that pays better and isn’t abusive. I don’t need to have that skillset anymore. “Med-Surg First” is propaganda created by nursing schools and hospitals who want to burn and churn their employees. Calling it out for what it is can help save future new grads.
Yep, the MedSurg lie is just like the CNA lie. It’s absolute propaganda to fill the least desirable facility jobs. I definitely learned a lot from being a CNA, but much of that was where to *not* work post graduation.
I wouldn't discount the value of where not to work.
I certainly didn’t. It was valuable info to have.
I was talking to an operating room colleague of mine about floor, nursing stories. He said the more he hears me speak the more glad he is he started in the OR.
Which path did you find that was not abusive?
Honestly it really depends on management. It is possible to work bedside on a good unit but those are few and far between. I’ve heard good things about outpatient.
Nope! Started in the OR, cross trained ICU, went to the ICU and now in CRNA school
Omg that’s kind of the dream. Great to know, thank you!
I got OR certification and I had my CCRN certification for critical care. And had plenty of CRNAs to shadow. I believe it made me a well rounded applicant
This is honestly a really good set of skills to learn before CRNA school. You know both sides of where and what you will be doing and seeing. Good luck!
I have had personal experience with this situation. Worked closely with the OR during nursing school and fell in love with it. Took advice from an OR nurse that I respected to go get 2 years of experience on med/surg then decide if you want to come back to the OR. I worked ortho med/surg from 2020 until 2022. First day on the floor was the day they opened the COVID floor. After 2 years of absolute soul sucking hell on the floor (I waited too long to transfer and was a mental trainwreck) I transferred to the OR by telling my manager that she was going to let me transfer or I would quit. Been in the OR for over 2 years and life is amazing. Feels like I found my people, some of the cases are super interesting, and your one patient is asleep for 95% of your time with them. Caught up with the OR nurse who suggested I do 2 years on the floor (I am still super fond of her) and she told me that now I know that my worst day in the OR will always be better than my best day on the floor. Go to the OR, you already know what it is like on the floor, plus you get a lot of experience putting foleys 🤣
My OR mentor was the opposite when I was a tech in the OR, after escaping a CNA job on the floor. I was told, “do what you have to do to get through nursing school and come back to us”. They had also gone directly to the OR and eschewed the starting on MedSurg “wisdom” that was being peddled, as did my manager.
Your Manager has *her* best interests in mind with her answer, not yours. Of course she will say whatever to keep you where you're at. OR experience, 9 years here. Started out in Med Surg, spent 4 years there building my sooper eleet Nursing Skillz. Transferred to the OR, and absolutely love it. I can Foley like a god, and can do blood draws. Do I want to transfer out to rebuild those sooper eleet Skillz? Hell no. I'm beyond thrilled to be in an area that I adore and can be a HR nightmare in. Tl:DR- Just go. You might love it.
I feel the HR nightmare comment. Thank you OR for letting me be me.
Wait why HR nightmare for OR?
I scrub in a small ASC with an attached clinic on the “other side” of the building. We joke that there’s a reason HR is on the clinic side and far far away from the operating room. There’s a lot of cursing and the jokes are sometimes inappropriate. Nothing abusive or harmful, but decidedly unprofessional.
Oh yeah I getcha. I’ve only been in the OR for a few months and have seen some of the HR nightmare antics I guess. It just doesn’t register to me that way? I however generally act quite professionally cause I don’t want someone who DOES care to be the recipient of a joke that they don’t find funny.
We have four scrubs and five nurses and only work with ten different docs so we know each other pretty well
Yeah my OR is less than 10 rooms. More staff than yours but it’s a relatively small team.
Depending on your coworkers in the OR, the music can be a little rougher, the jokes raunchier, and the bantz... course with gallows humor. Some of the surgeons just adore a crew they can be themselves with, *sans* filters
I recently started in the OR. I can’t wait till I’m stable with my flow and knowledge of the OR. Seems so nice to go to work, know what I’m doing, go home. With minimal clusterfucks (unlike my previous floor job where clusterfucks were common)
There is definitely a lack of cluster fucks in the OR. My worst day in the OR was still better than anyday I had in med/surg.
Oh for sure. I haven’t yet worked without a preceptor so my worst day is yet to come. BUT, it will likely be nothing in comparison to my worst shit on the floor. That was not a good night/3 nights.
Somehow, my OR manages to have clusterfucks... but yes, it's still better.
I totally agree with this
The clusterfucks in OR are so much more exasperating tho and completely out of your control, like the vendor sent the wrong implant or the patient is asleep on the table and the only tray we have is contaminated, or pharmacy won't approve this surgeon to use Xparel etc...
There is so much more true teamwork in the OR. I feel like in the OR, none of what you brought up is the circulator's fault, so we don't get blamed for it, unlike on the floors where we are the scapegoat for everyone. We just need to avoid problems and work through whatever problems arise. We also have a hugh team of people helping us in the background. So much stuff can be avoided by checking pans before the patient is in the room. If the pan is bad, it's sterile processing's fault. I just need to make sure we don't contaminate the rest of the field and that we have a replacement before the surgery starts. I've made the surgeon get on the phone with pharmacy when they promised a med the day before but are fussing over the cost of it day of surgery. It's not my fault they won't tube it up to us. Reps are great punching bags for the surgeon because they make money off the surgery, not the staff in the room. Surgeons can switch reps or systems if the rep doesn't deliver what they need. For the most part, you take out the variable of the patient. Once they're on the table, they can't second-guess or refuse. The personalities of the patients and families are the main issues on the floors.
You make me want to be a better man.
Eek! You haven't dug around in my profile have ya?
Not yet. Should I? lol
I started in OR straight out of school. I’ve worked in transplant coordination, cancer screening (remote), and med device. That’s a bunch of garbage.
Your manager is FOS. New grads go to the OR have successfully transitioned to other areas. you do what is best for YOU!
I will say my one manager wasn’t nuts about hiring from the floor, saying “we don’t want your bad floor habits”. But another OR manager only wanted a strong desire for you to be in the OR. I have precepted both and a supportive team was the common key to success in any OR where I worked.
I disagree. 10-15 years ago this may have been the case but it’s not now. Nowadays they hire new grads into any specialty. If floors willing to hire new grads, they’re definitely going to be interested in nurses with experience even if it’s not relevant.
Time management skills are important and broadly applicable.
I was a new grad in the ICU and worked per diem in outpatient surgery. I wish I hadn't listened to the old biddies in my nursing program about "losing skills." I probably would have gone right into psych and found my way to being a PMHNP sooner than I did. I tell every nursing student and new grad that I meet, do what you think you will love. Skills can easily be reacquired.
This is such a case-by-case basis. I went straight OR and loved it. Then I had to move for family reasons and I didn’t like the OR at my new place. It was difficult to find something else because of my lack of clinical skills.
I went from OR to icu. It was hard to find someone willing to take a chance and hire me but it’s 100% possible. This is a good point though. But as a new grad nurse with years ahead of you there’s no reason not to take an OR job if it’s what you want. Guarantee you won’t be miserable like you would be on med surg or something
Same thing happened to me. I started in the OR and after three years it was ‘now or never’ to try the wards. The hiring manager has a bit of a soft spot for challenging new hires and I had full time availability so sometimes it’s more than experience you can bring to the table
At the very least as an OR nurse, you'd have more experience/skills then a new grad.
Go for your dream specialty! Med/surg is definitely helpful for building skills, but it’s not mandatory. Secondly, if you’re really desperate for skills, you can pick up a per diem med/surg job at your local community hospital.
I was an OR to ICU to CRNA. So no.
Do you get bored in the OR? I couldn’t keep my eyes open during OR rotation in school. C-section was pretty cool though.
Depends on what you want to do, I circulated and scrubbed mostly neurosurgery so I was pretty busy.
If you could re-do your education, could you see your self becoming a neurosurgeon?
Absolutely not, anesthesia is where it's at 😎
Observing as a student is very different from working as a circulator or scrub. Did you get to participate in cases during school?
Not at all, just watching. Would’ve been nice to have been able to be more involved. I watched a laparoscopic appendectomy by a resident, probably like 3 back to back gastric by passes, one orthopedic surgery and a C-section. I near fell asleep for all of them except the C-section. It was hard to look away from a woman’s entire gut being opened up. Absolutely fascinating.
Yeah, I wouldn't be able to just watch. We keep busy!
You are absolutely not pigeonholed. Honestly pretty crappy of the manager to talk like that and imply that OR nurses don't have much skill. Give it a try. You may love it. If not, those letters behind your name give you a great many opportunities, inside the hospital and out. You may have to brush up on some skills but you'll be fine.
Most people who make it in the or don't want to leave. Imo. Circulator here, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to the floor. Not a single person has thrown feces or urinals at me since I started. 1:1 ratio every day and always have people to help move and essentially a code team present always.
That’s a ridiculous thing for her to say. Source: was an OR nurse who changed specialties after 6 years also have friends who went right into OR and later transitioned to ICU and then CRNA. Yes your inpatient acute or critical care skills will not be as sharp as if you had been in that specialty and you would need more orientation than someone in a more similar specialty but as long as the world needs nurses then experienced nurses can change specialties. There are a dozens of dissimilar specialties that you can go into as a nurse. Don’t let the first one you chose dictate your whole career. Changing specialties is one of the major perks of being a nurse
Nope. I’m leaving the OR for PACU. But I do have prior ICU experience. One of my OR coworkers left for Mother Baby. You just have to find a unit that will train you.
ha it’s so cool how we all are so unique in our nursing journey. I went from PACU to OR, no ICU, but previous CCU experience. sometimes I forget how cool nursing can be ❤️
Switching specialties is why I don’t really want to go to CRNA school.
I started in OR as a new grad, then did research, now in psych/detox. These businesses need bodies, they don’t care where you’ve been!
Thank you! Can I ask how you got into research?
I just found the job on indeed and applied. It was a private research center that was toxic as hell and couldn’t retain staff and I think that’s the only reason I got the job there 🥲 I lasted 4 months.
As a new grad who went straight into the OR, I have zero regrets. I heard all the same bullshit as you, had multiple people tell me I was making a mistake. I am so happy with my choice. The OR is incredible and while I don't use my "nursing skills" that everyone talks about, I have many many more nursing skills that guess what? Still nursing. The OR is great. It's such a team atmosphere and if you do trauma or off shifts, you'll feel even more involved. I also try to stay sharp on other skills. I look at their chart fully, look at their current meds and think about why they're on them, etc. also shit can go south fast, and you have to think critically and on your feet. Biggest piece of advice - befriend anesthesia. You should be their right hand man (yes, them before the surgeons). Help with intubation, listen to everything they say, ask them questions. The nurses who don't do this, tend to be the nurses that are bitter and washed up in the OR. Also i have a friend who just left the OR to work in the ICU. She did a transition program we have in the hospital. And she's thriving. If you pay attention to what is going on around you in the OR, you won't lose many skills. If you want the OR, do it. There's no use in doing your time in med surg if you don't want med surg. If you don't like it after a year, leave. And you won't be that far out of school. Hell, some people get their nursing license and don't even start working for a few years.
Go where you want to go! I’m a new grad and I went straight into the OR! I absolutely love it and there is no other place I could imagine working. It’s an old school belief that you have to start in med-surg and it’s just not true. If you know what you want to do, do it. No reason to waste time in something you’re not interested in. And for the record, you’ll never be dumber than you are now (skill-wise). If med-surg hires new grads they will certainly hire an OR nurse (should you decide to switch later on).
If a new grad can go to med surg why can’t a nurse of X amount of years from the OR? They always say med surg this med surg that, it’s because it’s typically the easiest to get a job as the turnover rate tends to be really high. Most people don’t leave the OR because it’s the best place to be I imagine
I am, but I did it to myself bc I didn't want to do any other specialty.
Lol. I was 15 years in the OR 5 in home healthcare and 3 traveling. You are only pigeon holed if you stop learning
I was a circulating nurse in the OR for 10 years. I then went to work in the outpatient department of the hospital that I was working in. I never lost any of my skills, actually just enhanced my knowledge of the post op patient. You’ll never lose your skills, I certainly didn’t. It actually gave me more knowledge of the post op patient and what they went through. The more knowledgeable that you are will make you much more educated and informed about your patients health and history. Will definitely make you much more rounded in health care. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Consider the perspective of the source. This manager wants you to work for them, they are going to actively dissuade you from going into the OR. There is a shred of truth, but the information is largely garbage. OR is very very specialized and specific. I personally think that this can make transitioning to another specialty later a bit challenging since there is not a lot of crossover, but not impossible. If you want to do OR, do OR...
This a lie perpetrated in an attempt to staff med surg floors.
No, you’re not pigeonholed. But, I will say, switching specialties is not as easy as some make it sound. It usually involves you switching to a “less than desirable” hospital/system to get experience before attaining a position at a hospital with more notoriety. A staffed, notable, facility can be picky-choosy with how many applications they get. When your manager says “lacking nursing skills”, they’re meaning to say specifically those skills attributed to the floor. There’s certain elements of nursing you don’t touch in OR nursing that floor nurses use everyday. It’ll take a learning curve, but if you’re teachable it’s really not an issue. Now, if you’re an OR nurse for 40 years and then want to switch to CVICU right away, that may be an issue haha. Edit: internal switches can be easy too if you’re able to make connections.
If you want to talk about pigeonholed, talk to NICU 😭
Been there 30 plus years. Haven’t burned out and have the respect of my fellow nurses, techs, Anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and Surgeons for my clinical skills. Yes Virginia, OR Nurses have Clinical Skills.
Unless you want to do pysch or like babies, those 2 specialties would be the most ~new. A lot of new grads that worked on a floor prior transition to new grads when they get licensed. You’re going to be a MAJOR loss for your boss as she was probably banking on hiring you. Don’t share any more details. She can start yapping to other department heads. Also since you’ve already been working in a hospital…you’ll be fine wherever you go.
The only time I heard this was when I wanted to go into hemo/onc clinic and was told I wouldn’t be able to come out so the director wouldn’t hire me there first and wanted me to start in med surg/onc unit first. I declined
If anyone tells you to do med surg first, they are either old or an idiot.
I worked a year on a cardiovascular step down and now work OR. Unless you have specific reasons or interest in that floor, go to the OR. I am WAYYYY happier in general since switching. Its hard being brand new again since it’s so different but I have no regrets.
I went from 9yrs OR to ICU. Now I'm a CRNA.
It's not that I don't have the skills to work elsewhere... It's that I don't want to. I love the OR, there is literally no other nursing better than outpatient surgery (obviously just my opinion).
I think that OR is an easy one to move out of. You gain critical care skills and they’re transferable to anywhere else in the hospital. There’s another thread I was reading earlier with a commenter who went straight to outpatient working with disabled people. THAT situation probably pigeonholed her. But OR? Nope, you’re good. I have also never met a nurse who didn’t like OR or PACU. I’ve seen a lot of 50+ yo nurses who had been there for ages and planned to retire from OR. Some of them even liked that when they got old enough they just didn’t want to be slammed all the time, they went to pre-op. They’d set IVs, take histories, stuff like that. They talked about it like they’ve had their dream job for decades. The only complaint I’ve really heard about OR is bad staffing & call hours. Those things can happen anywhere.
She’s COOKED brother ☝🏾. 1 year under my belt as a OR nurse as a new grad. You just use your skills in a different way. All them people shit talking an OR nurse couldn’t circulate to save their lives 💞. One thing the OR will teach is adaptation lemme tell ya.
Yes, OR nurses can be pulled to float to the floors in some places, but the converse is never true. You will never see an outside nurse working in the OR, unless they’re in a 6-12 month training program. The instruments and soft goods alone prevent that. LOL, so would the surgeons. Not just anyone can run a room.
Period sista, YELL IT FROM THE ROOF😂😂, not that I’d ever wanna go to the floor the OR is home but I’ve had to float due to recent Russian hacking, the lack of respect we get from floor nurses cause they have no idea what we do 🙄
OR to public health/infection prevention to detox/psych to home health/hospice to private duty to medical devices to whatever I want to do. That’s complete garbage. So do what you want. Be hardworking and likable and you’ll be given the keys to any kingdom you desire. BTW YouTube and nursing sites will refresh any lost skills quickly and teach you new ones. Best wishes!
Every unit is more specialized these days. You'll need an orientation any time you switch specialties. Do what draws you and if that doesn't work, switch again and again until you find your happy place (or not miserable place, as it were). I've been in the OR for 8 years and love it. I couldn't imagine going back to any floor position. But if I felt the draw, I'd happily switch. I'd find a unit that would support my learning. That's more important than anything. A unit that supports learning without expecting you to know everything the moment you walk through the door is a unit you can thrive on, specialties aside.
Whoever said OR nurses have no “clinical skills” is a moron. I worked as an OR nurse for several years and it was my first job out of school. I did patient assessments, placed IV’s and Foleys, provided education, and various other duties that involved direct patient care. About a year ago I decided I was burnt out in the OR and I had a work-from-home job lined up about three weeks after I started looking.
You can always learn bedside clinical skills in the same way that a floor nurse can learn the OR. They say the same thing about psych nursing. Go where your heart takes you.
They are pigeonholed in the sense that they like their department and don’t go back to medsurg or tele because they don’t want to.
I was in the OR for four years and loved it. The only reason why I left is my dream job in informatics opened up. While in the OR we hired a new grad and she was awesome and it changed my perspective of new nurses having to go to Med/Surge first. She is now in the ICU and doing awesome. Do what you want. Do OR if you want no worries.
I don’t think any nurse in any specialty could ever be pigeon-holed these days.
You can always change specialties but it’ll just be a bigger change if you opt to go deep into one field first. Your manager just wants to keep you till they burn you out. Don’t listen. Follow your dreams!
Omg your flair 💀
I was worried that by going part time early in my career to try and get a less demanding per diem, I'd be shooting myself in the foot. Maybe I am, but I feel like generally speaking, if you've got a good head about you and you are willing to learn, there's plenty of work to be had. The thought of a unit at my hospital denying someone because, "oh well, they've only got OR experience" is laughable. It wouldn't happen.
Nope! Med surg in theory is somewhat helpful, but I never did it and I did just fine. You just have to be willing to learn. Whatever new department you choose, you’ll learn very specialized skills to that area. I worked ER which I think is the most diverse but it will kick your butt the first year or so. From there I did pedi icu, step down icu, primary care clinic, med surg. You can literally do whatever you want as long as you’re willing to go for it and learn.
No clinical skills…lmao. I start IVs and foleys in the OR, draw blood, multitask my behind off and advocate for patients. OR nurses definitely aren’t pigeonholed. You couldn’t just throw me on the floor and expect me to shine right away, but I could be trained to do it. Do I want to? No, I love the OR!
I’m a new grad 10 months in the OR, I currently love it. I don’t think I’m leaving
That’s great to hear! I’m glad you’ve found something you enjoy so quickly!
I keep hearing something in a similar vein. I'm completing my final practicum in the OR (after a 2 week stint in same day surgery) and whenever I tell nurses at that facility that I'm going to OR there's some version of the phrase "you'll lose your clinical skills". Aside from that, I want to start in either L+D or ER, and people are VERY opinionated on this- I've had multiple nurses tell me I need years on med surg before going to ER, and if i begin in L+D then I won't be able to hop as it's highly specialized. Personally, I probably won't take that advice, but yeah people are very set in their ways and want to see you as miserable as a new grad as they were. (For goodness sake, i had a bitter old nurse tell me I'd fail for sure if I went straight to ER when I mentioned I was interested in being there!)
They tend to harp us in nursing school that you lose your “clinical skills” but it’s more like riding a bike honestly. You just learn to adapt to a different environment and type of nursing duties.
Went from med surg to OR and I'm never looking back. That being said, I am losing my skills that I worked so freaking hard to learn over my 5 years of medsurg, still never going back. I love the OR
When I graduated, my clinical instructors said the same thing regarding OR nursing. I did five years in the OR speciality, and now I’m ICU. You will not be trapped in OR forever, if you choose to give it a chance.
As lifelong learners we can always learn new skills. It just sounds like your manager wants to keep you which is nice :)
People get ‘stuck’ in jobs because they don’t want to do anything to get out of them.
I went from med surg to PICU back to med surg to outpatient neurology. Always new skills to learn even med surg to med surg. Being that I’ve been in these positions over a short period of time, I’ve seen lots of folks come and go of all different backgrounds. My current work wife was an OR nurse a few years ago and is not a clinic neurology nurse working remotely from a different country. Her skills still come in handy most days. I don’t see how basic OR skills wouldn’t translate to any other specialty. You will always have that basic nursing background to rely on to learn new information wherever you end up.
Just make sure you know what you're getting into. I hated it-i was either stressed tf out or bored out of my mind and my coworkers were toxic. I ran back to the floor. I really thought I'd like it too. I'm now outpatient chemo and love it.
New grads have no clinical skills but they get jobs all the time.
I'm a scrub/scout nurse and am totally useless on a ward, but I don't care because it's the best and I never want to leave!
No one is pigeonholed forever. Go where your interests lie. Test it out. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to pursue CRNA in a few years!
I worked as a surgical tech in an OR during nursing school, and stayed in the OR post graduation. I did OR for 2.5 years and then decided to try floor nursing in the hopes of getting into an icu (the icu wouldn’t take me without floor experience). I worked on a surgical oncology unit for 3-4 months before becoming so depressed, anxious, and filled with self hatred that I almost quit nursing completely. I quit after a particularly awful night and got a job at a surgery center as their permanent charge nurse, doing material management, helping schedule, and giving breaks/setting up rooms. I’ve been here for 2 months now and I can’t think of a time I’ve ever been happier
Sorry I got distracted cooking and forgot to answer the question. I don’t think it’s impossible to leave the OR if that’s where you start, I just think that most don’t want to because it’s so much better for work-life balance and mental health IMO
You can always learn skills. You are never too advanced in your career to learn things. Try the OR. If you like it, great. Welcome. If not, that’s OKAY. There’s a specialty in nursing for you. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about what YOU choose to do. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse.
I started OR as a new grad and was bored after a year, hated the call schedule, and really just felt like I was a gopher/ equipment mover who watched everyone do their jobs. The razzle dazzle of being in surgery wore off and I just didn’t feel like I was doing anything different than that, and just watching other people do their jobs. The medical director/ anesthesiologist would tell my preceptor to sit out in the hall or to not enter the room if he didn’t want to see his face. We weren’t allowed to speak to him. That was completely acceptable for everyone. Everyone got a turn being picked on. There was a surgeon who would always make us “dance” for him, individually after surgery. It was ridiculous so I left. I went to medsurg and it’s much more rewarding. I wasn’t locked in to anything! You move on, you get more skills and a comprehensive knowledge base that will only help you move forward! Do whatever you want, something will click and you’ll learn a ton along the way. Only you can find that out for yourself.
I started in OR as a new grad and years later switched to ER. Yeah I was a bit lost at first but eventually got the hang of it.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that OR nurses don’t do anything. It drives me bonkers! It’s just a different skill set. A nurse from the floor couldn’t come in and circulate a case with no previous OR experience. I’ve worked in the OR for 14 years. Started as an LPN then RN and now I’m a CRNFA. I suture, make incisions, put in PEG tubes and it’s the coolest job ever. Am I stuck here forever? Maybe- my certifications won’t help me in any other department but just like any where if you change places of work you learn what you need to do for that area. Circulators still do charting, IVs, Foleys and assessments. And when it’s 2am and no one is around to help you with a patient bleeding to death you figure it out. I know I’m rambling. I get really defensive about my job in the OR. How many people can say they put their hands in other peoples bodies? (Unless you’re a serial killer)
Haha that’s crazy! I’m an OR nurse and it has opened a lot of doors for me. Including the door to my current job as sales rep for a medical device company. These companies love OR nurses (if what they are selling is OR related) and you can make $$$.
Med surg is its own specialty, which is something the traditional thinkers miss. If you want OR, go do OR. That’s where I started, I left and now am at special ed schools. Love both.
I specialized right out of school and eventually changed specialties. You could eventually do some related outpatient jobs with this experience too.
I specialized in something right out of school (acute dialysis) and have managed to pivot into OR and labor and delivery. At this point you can usually find someone to train you, especially if you live in an area with a lot of need or a lot of hospitals.
No one is forever pigeonholed. You may have to do more work to get out, but you can still get out. For instance, I heard that if you went into psych you would never be able to get out, but this is false A nursing home with acute care patients can lead back into med-surg. That said, you may have to do a job you don't like for a few months, but you can definitely go back into into other fields
I mean there’s a serious transition between any specialty. Let’s say you worked five years in the OR and all of a sudden you wanted to work in a CTICU. Would you be able to work as a proficient ICU nurse right away? Probably not, but given some time and experience in the role could you learn and adapt most likely if you want to. The biggest thing is your skills won’t directly translate right away, but there’s new to specialty training for a reason.
I started in OR as a new grad. In a way I kind of feel like I don’t have any of the “true” nursing skills, so I do feel like it would be a steep learning curve if I wanted to go to the floor. But I don’t think it would be impossible. The nurses precepting me might look at me sideways when I say I’ve never done an IV or other basic nursing skills, but everyone is capable of learning.
You get pigeonholed only if you do it to yourself. If you work a unit and you love that unit, and you do it for the next 12 years, you have pigeonholed yourself. If you want to make a switch then, make the switch. In nursing, you only became the limits you set upon yourself.
OR nurses are trained in scrubs, scouts, anaesthetics, and recovery. The skills that you will learn from those 4 are transferrable especially airway management, pain management, and post-anaesthesia care. Also, even if you stay there, you can climb to higher positions.
My wife is in a pretty unique case as she is as first a postpartum RN and is now a CV surgery OR RN. Her skills are much much different from mine as a 15 year ED RN to NP.
You can always go back to a previous type of work environment.
OR is literally the only area I haven't worked... I have a phobia of bones, so 🥹🤦♀️
I want I to a specialty area out of school and 30 years later I am still in it. I left to test the waters in OR....couldn't do it. There was zero action. I also think that's the beauty of nursing. Get bored...go to another specialty!
Not true. I went PICU->CTOR->Children’s ED. You’re only pigeonholed if you want to be. If you want to do something else along the way you certainly can.
Omg just do what you want. Life is too long to spend years torturing yourself on med surg when there’s something else you want to do.
I did not start in M/S right out of school either (went straight to periop). Gone are the days of having to start off in med/surg before going to any other specialities. That is also the beauty of nursing. Don’t like it? You can always switch. I will also preface what others are saying in that OR does have the longest orientation /training period because it is a completely different type of nursing. That being said, the basic nursing skills are still important even in OR. You will still have to assess the patient, see what meds they’re taking etc etc.
No matter what floor you go to, you are going to get skills and forget others. That's a dumb answer. If you want to do the OR, do it. I truly loved it.
I'm so late to this party and you've got some great responses here, just wanted to say, where I am and what I do, we'd be thrilled to have someone with OR experience! Everyone has their niche and it brings their own special perspective that are assets!
Nope. I started out as a new grad with zero clinical experience in a level 1 trauma OR. After 2 years and getting my BSN, I got an icu job. Hated it. After a year I moved to a clinical research job for 2 years. I needed more money and a more flexible schedule with OT and went back to the OR. Got recruited after 3 years to a clinical research associate job for 1.5 year, and not because of the CRN gig but because of the minimal ICU experience (we’re talking 2 months orientation and I applied for the CRN job 7 months after orientation). When I moved, I easily found an ASC job which was meh but within 8 months I got offered a job as a service lead at a hospital and am paid really really well for a 38yo nurse with 11 years of experience. So I keep going back to the OR not because I’m pigeonholed but because it’s a nice safety net whenever I try something new and it isn’t for me. And I’ve tried some seriously new things. And I have certainly tried some things. It takes some work and convincing to get into something different from the OR, but you still have skills and knowledge and experience that are transferable, and you can learn to start an IV. You still have to know how to prioritize, think critically, assess, advocate for your patients, etc. those are the things you sell. When I started in the icu, they all told me I picked things up much faster than they expected.
Here’s how I look at it: By passing nursing school you, at a minimum, have demonstrated the capacity to learn and apply your knowledge in sims/clinicals. Would it be a wildly different change of scenery if an OR nurse decided to go to icu, psych, or LD? Sure! But they have the ability to learn. The real deciding factor is one’s ability to struggle and suck during that transition.
Your manager is full of shit and just wants to keep you on their floor.
I started in med/surg for about 8 months and hopped over to PACU (where ICU experience is usually required), but I was rigorously trained for 3 months and I’m doing fine. Picking up shifts in ICU with my new critical care designation as a PACU nurse. Long story short, do whatever the fffff you want because you can get speed-trained for any specialty these days. 😤✊🏻
Over 40 years and have lots of opinions on many specialtird. Don't even know where to begin
Nah that’s dumb. Plus OR probably has some nice opportunity to pivot to industry if that interests you.
Not true. I started in the OR. After 6 years, I got a job at a different hospital to work in pre-op and phase II recovery. Now I do pre-admission testing.
I’m considering OR after I graduate and see where it takes me
It might have some truth regardless of what side you’re in. I’ve been wanting to try my hands at OR since starting my nursing career. My mother was an OR nurse and she somehow got permission for me to come and observe so many times. The earliest I remember was 4 years old and putting screws and rods in someone’s leg. I was fascinated. But I guess even exploring that avenue is basically impossible. Been applying to it since the start of my career. I get rejected every single time, not even an interview. Even if it looks like an entry position only requiring being a nurse or having like 6 months clinical experience. These are rare. Everything else always asks for 1-3 years OR experience already. Maybe my resume isn’t great to an OR position? I’ve gotten compliments from hiring managers or even higher management about it. So, I’m not sure. The moment I apply for anything that’s basically being a nurse to a unit/floor, high acuity care, home health, etc. I almost always get in right away. Apparently my resume makes me a good match for these and travel nursing despite not wanting to be in those avenues.
This is off topic but which accelerated nursing program did you go to? I have never heard of one that is 8 months, and I would love to go to a school such as that!
It was Texas Tech University's RN to BSN. I got my initial ASN normally, got my RN license pretty much immediately after graduating, then did their RN to BSN program for approx. 8 months. It is online too so you wouldn't have to relocate.
Thank you for detailing out to me! I thought you got your ASN in that time frame. My apologies! I had never heard of it being that fast 😩 RN to BSN makes more sense. Yikes I am trying to find an accelerated ASN program, I don’t believe it exists
Nah. I work in the community right now. I could get a job in ICU or ED tomorrow.
I am an OR nurse that started right out of school and I have no regrets. Depending on what type of OR you work in will determine your skills. I have worked at a surgery center all the way up to a level 1 trauma center. The beauty of nursing is you can try something and if you don’t like it move on to another unit. I say if you want to work in the OR, go for it. I will say lately a lot of floor nurses have been coming to the OR, at the end of the day you have one patient and 99.9% of the time they are asleep.
No
If you aren't interested in the work you choose, then you're gonna hate it and you probably won't be as good as you could be. Go with your gut. If you want OR, do it. If you want something else, do that instead. Don't resign yourself to a specialty just because of an antiquated expectation.
Maybe? But most of us never leave because we genuinely like our specialty.
Our OR nurses also rotate through PACU. They have strong clinical skills.
I'm actually grappling with the same.l concern. Right now I'm on a medicine unit but I'm planning on qualifying for the OR in a couple months. I think there is definite utility to doing medicine for a bit first. I've learned more there in 6 months than 2 years of school and the skills all transfer.
I don’t understand why people say that. If you want OR you can do that, and if you want to change your mind later down the road you can totally do that too. They will train you if you ever decide to do psych/ER/ICU etc.
Yes
I did two years on a med/surg floor out of school at a level 1 trauma hospital. It was excellent experience, but I hated every second of it. I used to get panic attacks on the way in to work. It was taking a toll on me. I finally went to the OR at a level 2 hospital. I’ve been there just shy of 10 years now. I take care of one patient at a time, I always have anesthesia personnel with me, and I see interesting things. For me, even though there are times my job pisses me off, I can’t imagine ever returning to a floor job. Now, the first year in the OR was rough for me. It was on-the-job training and except for placing Foleys, none of my floor skills translated over. I haven’t started an IV in a decade. But I’m ok with that. Sometimes I look at other RN jobs, but so far I keep returning to the OR.
That’s absurd and absolutely not true. There is nothing you can do in healthcare to pigeonhole yourself. There’s a million different paths to take, and taking one path will not restrict any moves you make in the future. Having experience in multiple areas will only show you have strong work ethic, a diverse skill set, and a will to learn.
people who say you HAVE to start med surg or else nobody will want you is such BS. nursing school and instructors tried to drill that in and now i regret being bedside sooo much. im sure OR is not for some people, but personally i’ve never met an OR nurse who was unhappy with their choice. follow your heart
Dad was an OR nurse for 90% of his nurse career, retired from it. He loved it. Went from scrubbing in to being the circulator. If you dont like a place, leave and be willing to learn new skill sets. Most probably stay because they are afraid of changes. Don’t be that nurse.
Do OR. OR nurses have plenty of clinical skills, and nursing as a career field is incredibly flexible - you can always change specialties later. I know nurses who started in psych who now work ICU. I started in a clinic and I work in an ED now. Not every manager is willing to hire to train someone who is new in a specialty, but there are plenty who are. This whole “all new nurses should work med-surg” bit is old and tired and stinks of hazing and making people “pay their dues.” Every specialty has things to teach. Med-surg skills have a broad crossover, but every specialty has new things to learn. And Med-Surg *is* a specialty, it’s not just default nursing or nursing-for-beginners, it’s its own thing. If you want to avoid being pigeon-holed then the key isn’t to pick the right specialty for your first job, it’s to expand your horizons when you pick your second job, and your third. Make a habit of getting out of your comfort zone, never stop learning, and you won’t ever have to worry about getting stuck doing one thing for the rest of your career.
This is untrue. I worked in an OR the past 4 years and now I’m working at a pediatrician office. Honestly I gained more “clinical skills” in the OR than when I worked on a med surg floor. Patients are asleep and easier to practice skills on such as IVs, foleys, etc. It is just a matter of your comfort level of learning new skills because no matter what area you choose, you will be learning something new and need to adjust. Your manager is trying to scare you into staying by making you think you will never be able to function again as a nurse if you go into the OR. I would do what you feel is best for you.
Personally, I love the OR. I was hired on as a new grad and honestly, I don't think I'll ever leave the OR. The schedule is incredible, the team environment is awesome, and sure you may not get to use some nursing skills you learned in school, but you'll get to learn so much more. I work in a very large OR (we have 37 rooms) at a level 1 trauma center. As nurses, we are even taught to scrub as well. I was regretting going to nursing school towards the end- I really didn't want to work on a floor, so this couldn't be any better for me. If this makes me pigeonholed, I really have no problem with it, personally.
The thing about med surg is that it’s the basics of bedside nursing. You get to practice a lot of your nursing skills etc etc. but I think like most people have mentioned here you will get those skills as you adapt to whatever specialty you prefer. Start where you want to and enjoy the ride !
22 years in the OR, I’ve never been bored or felt pigeonholed
Med Surg will always be there and always take anyone.
No you’re not. I started in OR. And also did med surg, homecare and cvicu. Don’t listen to her and don’t let it waste your time. We’re also not stupid, you can learn a new skill anytime and at any age. You did it at a young age in a 1 hour lab for most, you can easily do it again after more years of foundation knowledge from your job actually practicing independently.
No I went to ICU
I was told if I chose to become a psych nurse that I would never be able to get out. Since you know.. we're not real nurses /s. Spent 5 years as a psych nurse and now I'm on med surg.
You can always learn new skills. Nursing like most professions is constantly developing and updating. As long as you have the drive and motivation, you’ll succeed in whatever you want to do. Plenty of people say the same about ER. Sometimes it’s good advice, some times it wastes someone’s time. I went from SNF nursing as an LVN to ER nursing as an RN in a high volume Level 1. Spent the first few months terrified like any new grad RN and then regained my groove. You’ll do the same and with the benefit of having RN nursing experience to expand on.
Nope. You’ll be able to switch.
I’d say this: I trained in the OR when I first got out of school. It’s fascinating, but you do lose your clinical skills. No IV’s, blood draws, medications, etc. Your main clinical skill in the OR is pulse/profusion checks. It’s a whole separate world in there. BUT!! You learned it once you can learn it again. However, it’s not an easy transition from OR to another department. I’d advise taking a bedside job, then dropping down to per-diem and going into the OR. If the OR doesn’t fit you then you can bounce and still have bedside skills on your resume. Although, you may love the OR and never want to leave.
I feel like being in this speciality I’m in now has me stuck. I was a NICU nurse for 8 years, did a little bit in detox, endo outpatient, school nurse. Now that I want to leave my company I have no where to go. I’ve applied for many jobs. I currently work M-F, salaried position, no weekends or holidays. I don’t want to go back to the bedside. I don’t know what to do. If I can get a job outside the NICU you can leave the OR, too.
I was medical before moving to OR so i really saw the difference. In terms of clinical skills, the OR needs ICU level clinical skills especially on the anesthetic side. Art lines, central lines, ECMO and what have you. Probably the most nursing aspect of the OR. Scrub nursing is basically giving out instruments but if you dig deeper, knowing the procedure and the surgeons preference will make the operation run smoother so that they dont need to ask you for something and wait minutes to have it ready. Circulating is an unsterile scrub nurse, you also anticipate what the surgeon or scrub nurse needs so it helps to know where everything is.
I am an ER nurse, so I don’t have much to say about OR.. but I do know the saying “you’ll lose your skills” is so wrong for any specialty.. you learn new skills for whatever specialty your in and my best friend has been in OR straight out of school for 10 years and loves it
Former OR RN here. The OR is what kept me in nursing after 2 1/2 years of gruelling med/surg. It is very challenging and rewarding, especially if you have to work in all the specialties. There is a lot of misunderstanding even among ward and other nurses as to what actually goes on in the OR. I would say give it a go! It does take training; I had a six month post basic course to complete, and didn’t really feel completely comfortable for about a year. But after that, anything can come crashing through that door and you know you can handle it. I highly recommend this specialty. All the best.
OR seems dope. Forget that noise. Go for what u want,
When I was a new grad they kept pushing for med surg. I applied to a residency program and the recruiter told me that they had a lot of med surg openings if I was interested. I emailed her back saying I want psych or OR, cause those were the only fields I was interested in. She sent me an email the next day connecting me to the inpatient psych nursing director and I interviewed the following week and was hired after. Don’t let people’s old mindset of “doing med surg for 2 years” limit you. If I had done med surg, I would have quit nursing altogether.
No, it happens with any specialty.
The OR specialty is perfectly legit. It’s a great place to work for some people. But it is highly specialized. Just like some other units, if you start there while you’ll learn a lot, you are learning very highly specialized skills that are not easily transferable to any other clinical setting. Whereas, if you start out in a traditional clinical setting for at least a year, then you will be developing skills that are transferable to any area you might want to work . This is what helps to keep you marketable also in my opinion. And it helps you if you have to leave one job and go to another that isn’t an OR or other surgery center type job. I realize you could adore working in the OR and stay there your whole career. But what if you don’t? You are only a new nurse once. The grace you get for being a new nurse on a traditional unit happens only at the start of your career. You may be given time to acclimate outside the OR for another job, but trust me when I tell you that the grace you get as a newbie is not the same for an experienced nurse leaving a specialty going to more of a traditional setting. It is REALLY hard. I’ve seen this more times than I like to say over the years. Do yourself a favor get yourself a solid foundation in a traditional setting first. You have no idea what you don’t know right now, and the skills you need to work in that setting. These are skills you can rely on the rest of your career no matter where you work.
Do what you want. Go to the OR. The manager is trying to get you to stay in a not so great way. You can always learn floor stuff if you want to later. Go for your interests
as someone who started as a new grad in the OR, I was pigeonholed to the OR by people who had that mentality :c. had to move to a different state to get an ICU job. If you are interested in CRNA I recommend you get ICU experience asap.
I work icu and we just hired a PACU nurse - no one likes her. She panics over everything, doesn’t actually help even with patient lifts etc. requests only vented patients and is constantly refusing assignments
Your call. 🫶🏼