surgery when they
first entered the
workforce and are
looking to fulfill a
career goal. That's
promising and wel-
come feedback to
hear during an inter-
view.
• Challenges. In many ways, nurses with experience outside of sur-
gery can be the most difficult to orientate to the OR because they
must change their preconceived notions about basic nursing prac-
tices. For example, sterile technique in the OR is much more involved
than it is in other patient care areas and, in some instances, nurses
have to relearn basic practices they've been performing for years.
They're also used to being the expert in their previous clinical spaces
and might have been the veteran nurse who oriented the new hires. In
your facility, they might be told what to do by nurses with fewer years
of overall nursing experience. That dynamic can cause friction, so be
upfront during the interview process about the differences in how
they've been accustomed to working, the makeup of your current
staff and who they will be reporting to.
Tell nurses with experience in other clinical settings that you're going to
teach them the reasoning behind what they'll be asked to do. That's
important for any staff member to understand, but it's particularly impor-
tant for this group of nurses, who often don't fully realize the extent of
the relearning they'll endure.
OSM
Ms. Wilson (wilsonm@wvumedicine.org) is a clinical preceptor of the oper-
ating room and endoscopy at West Virginia University Hospitals in
Morgantown, W.Va.
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 9
When filling a surgical nurse position,
who would you rather hire?
• a new nursing school graduate 9%
• a nurse with perioperative experience 5%
• a nurse who's never worked in the OR 6%
Outpatient Surgery, November 2017, 342 respondents
InstaPoll
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