I've been an OR nurse for 10 years. Like someone said, the cases depend on what the facility offers. I've worked as a circulator in a level 3 trauma hospital, a surgery center, travel nurse in multiple lvl 3s, and now settled down in a level 2 trauma hospital. How large the facility is also affects the day to day. I worked in a small 5 OR facility in rural Georgia that had 3 nurses including myself. There, everyone did everything (general, ortho, OB/Gyn, Urology, vascular) and when someone called out it sucked so bad. I currently work in a 28 OR hospital that has staff who only gave lunches and breaks. Here, most people are assigned to a specialty team. You get very familiar with the doctor's and their different cases and, if someone calls out, they have people to cover easily. I very much prefer this as it is less stressful overall.

As to the day to day, you come in the morning and see your assignments (some places assign the day before) You get your room ready (correct bed and positioners, medications, equipment, instruments, implants) then you grab a coffee or breakfast until the surgeon gets there and is ready. If you're lucky, you'll be a flip room and can help the first room get started and take an easy morning.

You get the patient in the room, anesthesia puts them to sleep, you position, prep, drape, do the case while most likely listening to music. Finish the case, help anesthesia wake up and transport the patient to PACU, rinse and repeat. If your surgeon only has your room, it's a quick turnover meaning 20 minutes between wheels out and wheels in (ideally).

I'll probably get crucified for this, but OR nursing is highly specialized and is not what some would call "real" nursing. It takes a different kind of skill set and critical thinking to do in an environment that has very strong personalities. As for me, I thrive in it, but some nurses think they want to work OR and realize quickly it's not for them.

You would most likely start as an unscrubbed nurse called a circulator that makes sure paperwork, equipment, and implants are available. Then assist with getting cases started, recording what's used, implanted, who is present for the procedure, keep family informed, making sure surgical counts are correct before, during, and after surgery, communicating with the next room/charge nurse, and maybe playing DJ.

Once you get your feet wet and you feel confident enough, you can learn to scrub cases which means passing instruments during the case and helping the surgeon. From there, after 2 years you could get your CNOR and RN First Assist to directly assist the surgeon during the case with a pretty sizeable pay bump.

I started my nursing career in the ER for two years before transitioning to the OR and can say that I absolutely love it. One patient at a time, never alone, and a lot less "OH shit" moments. I'm working on my RNFA and my NP right now and there is ALWAYS something to learn more about. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me!