Description

Operating Room RN's, how would you feel about no nights, no weekends, and no holidays!  You life called and it wants you back!!  Join First State Orthopaedics surgical team built on excellence, precision, and genuine respect for the people who make it all happen!

POSITION TITLE:  OR Registered Nurse (Circulating RN)

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:  High school diploma or general education degree (GED), graduate of an Accredited Nursing Program, current licensure as a Registered Nurse in the State of Delaware or Compact State, BLS Certification required, previous experience in outpatient surgery center a plus.

GENERAL EXPERIENCE: familiarity with personal computer and ancillary office equipment, electronic medical record systems, electronic PACS systems, knowledge of medical terminology, human anatomy, surgical instruments. surgical procedures and asepsis and sterile technique, excellent interpersonal skills.

JOB DESCRIPTION & DUTIES:

In the operating room, the duties of the circulating nurse are carried out outside the sterile area. The RN Circulator manages all the necessary care inside the surgery room, assisting the team in maintaining and creating a comfortable, safe environment for the patient and observing the team from a wide perspective. He or she must ensure all surgical team members perform in a unified effort. During operation, most patients are sedated or anesthetized and so, they are powerless to decide on their own. By using assessment, diagnosing, critical thinking, and planning skills, the circulating nurse can direct care and the activities of the team for the patient’s best interest.

The role of the Perioperative RN in the surgery setting is important to provide the best patient care. An effective circulating nurse possesses the knowledge, skills, and training to carry out circulating duties during surgery. By using sound judgment, interpersonal communication skills and critical thinking skills, the circulating nurse can check and evaluate the patient’s needs, ensuring positive outcome. To make sure the patient gets the highest standard of care, it is necessary there is a professional Perioperative nurse as the RN Circulator throughout every invasive procedure.

Below is the list of duties and roles of a circulating nurse during perioperative procedure:

• Patient Safety – every patient deserves a trained, skilled and knowledgeable RN in the surgery room, assuming the role as patient advocate – the primary spokesperson of the patient
• Skillful clinical judgment– observation, knowledge, and assessment skills along with the ability to foresee needs are essential to the success of the operation. This attribute is also an imperative component when making decisions in behalf of the patient.
• Informed Monitoring – the circulating nurse serves the welfare of the patient including the team’s success by assuming the role of an active observer, carefully watching any unintended or unanticipated event that could compromise the patient.
• Critical thinking –as the patient’s guardian in the operating room, it is the nurse circulator’s job to perform an accurate recording, interpretation and response to the stream of data that is present during the course of operation
• Accurate assessment – the education, training, and unwavering commitment to the patient allows the RN circulator to respond appropriately and quickly to the patient’s psychological, social and biological health.
• Interpersonal communication skills –possessing a mix of proficiency, perception, and professionalism, these components define a circulating nurse’s ability to interact and collaborate with all members of the team, which results to high quality level of care provided to the patient.
• Expert evaluation –a circulating nurse is trained to perform accurate decision-making and perception, allowing not only sound assessment of the patient’s condition but also capable in planning, implementing, and evaluating patient care. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

adheres to aseptic and sterile technique at all times

appropriately handles the instruments, supplies, and equipment necessary during the surgical procedure

has an understanding of the procedure being performed and anticipates the needs of the surgeon; has the necessary knowledge and ability to ensure quality patient care during the operative procedure

Preoperative Case Duties:

checks and opens supplies and equipment needed for the surgical procedure

performs initial instrument, sharps and sponge counts with the Scrub Tech /Scrub RN

assists the team members with gowning 

participates in the surgical site and patient verification during the time out procedure

secures tubing, cords and other sterile accessories

Intraoperative Case Duties:

prepares and anticipates additional instrumentation, equipment and supplies for usage during the procedure

measures and passes medications, hemostatic agents and irrigation solutions utilized during the surgical procedure to the field in a sterile manner

maintains highest standard of sterile technique during the procedure.

performs additional counts as necessary

prepares specimen(s) as appropriate

prepares sterile dressings and/or immobilization devices

Postoperative Case Duties:

assists with transfer of patient after procedure as needed

assists other members of the team with terminal cleaning of room

assists in prepping the OR for the next patient

participates in debriefing and quality improvement practices to ensure quality patient care

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

maintains appropriate supplies in the operating room

maintains a clean and safe work environment

working knowledge of all imaging equipment; competently operates imaging equipment in a safe manner

assists with trouble shooting and preventative maintenance and repairs of imaging equipment

Requirements

LANGUAGE SKILLS:  the ability to communicate effectively with the public, peers and physicians in verbal and written form, ability to speak English, ability to read and comprehend instructions and understand medical terminology, ability to understand reports generated by computer system.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:  the ability to add, subtract, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals, ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent.

REASONING ABILITY:  the ability to apply common sense to carry out written, oral and diagram instructions; ability to function independently with minimal supervision; ability to solve routine problems.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  Moderate physical effort; prolonged sitting and keyboarding; read, write, speak, and understand English; transfer, transport and ambulate patients up to 300 lbs.; prolonged standing, walking, pushing, pulling, bending, reaching, stooping; near and far visual acuity, distance vision, color discrimination, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus; ability to hear equipment alarms, call lights, telephone; fine and gross manual dexterity to operate keyboard and other medical equipment; occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds with assistance; must be able to respond quickly and effectively to an emergency; detail oriented; able to maintain a pleasant and courteous demeanor under all circumstances.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT:  The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  The noise level in the work environment is usually considered to be moderate.  Flexible hours, possible long shifts and high volume are common. Frequent exposure to patient body fluids, including blood and contaminated sharps.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

EXPECTATIONS OF ALL EMPLOYEES:

• provide exceptional service to all patients
• exhibit professionalism and ethical behavior at all times
• maintain strict confidentiality of patient information and business within organization’s policies
• maintain OSHA and HIPPA regulations
• treat everyone with respect, courtesy and friendliness
• adhere to all policies and procedures for our organization
• communicate recommendations on improvement of policies and procedures to management
• participates in committees, discussions and other team functions
• perform additional duties as may be assigned