Operating Room Registered Nurse

Job Summary

Supervises and directs patient care in the operating room.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Philosophy

  • Supports the facility’s ideology, mission, goals, and objectives
  • Performs in accordance with the facility’s policies and procedures
  • Follows the facility’s standards for ethical business conduct
  • Counsels self in a professional manner, and as a positive role model and team member
  • Recognizes patients' rights and responsibilities and supports them in performance of job duties
  • Respects patient rights to privacy, dignity, and confidentiality
  • Participates in facility committees, meetings, in-services, inventory and activities
  • Maintains professional relationships with management and medical staff

• Communication

  • Communicates effectively and professionally with patients, visitors, physicians, and coworkers
  • Interacts with others in a positive, respectful, and considerate manner

• Financial Practices

  • Uses facility resources appropriately and avoids wasteful practices
  • Reports wasteful practices
  • Analyzes work area and makes recommendations for potential cost-effective improvements

• Compliance Program

  • Contributes to the progress and development of the organization’s adopted compliance program
  • Performs according to established compliance policies and procedures

• Performance-Improvement Program

  • Contributes to the progress and development of the organization's adopted performance-improvement program
  • Performs according to established performance-improvement policies and procedures
  • Objectively evaluates suggestions, grievances, and processes to identify opportunities to improve performance and quality of care
  • Participates in data collection activities to support the performance-improvement program

• Safety/Risk-Management Program

  • Adheres to safety policies and procedures in performing job duties and responsibilities
  • Reports observed or suspected safety violations, hazards, and policy/procedure noncompliance to the safety officer or other designated person

• Professional Competence

  • Participates in continuing education and other learning experiences
  • Shares knowledge gained in continuing education with staff
  • Maintains membership in relevant professional organizations
  • Seeks new learning experiences by accepting challenging opportunities and responsibilities
  • Participates in teaching programs in the facility for employees and physicians on topics of special interest and topics pertinent to outpatient surgery
  • Researches and submits pertinent articles for review at staff meetings
  • Assists with orientation and training of new personnel and acts as a resource person for problems related to patient care
  • Welcomes suggestions and recommendations

• Duties

  • Participates as a team member in support of the total peri-operative process
  • Organizes time, equipment, supplies, and personnel to provide effective and efficient case management
  • Supervises and directs patient care in a single operating room
  • Organizes nursing activities efficiently and effectively
  • Delegates activities appropriate to the abilities of available staff members
  • Considers cost containment by using supplies economically and in effective turnover time
  • Assists with supply, drug, and equipment inventories to maintain stock level and availability
  • Addresses patient needs during admission to the operating room, with attention to requirements specific to the ASC setting
  • Transports patients to the operating room observing policies/procedures, safety requirements, and patient needs
  • Identifies the patient and correct surgical intervention according to policy/procedure and communicates such information to all members of the surgical team
  • Reviews patients’ medical records/needs to plan care with other healthcare team members
  • Provides comfort and reassurance to patient
  • Maintains patients’ privacy and dignity
  • Explains intra-operative phase of routine procedures and care to the patient
  • Performs the circulating nurse’s role and functions following approved operating room procedures to meet the requirements of scheduled procedures
  • Prepares operating room according to requirements of patient/procedure to be performed
  • Assembles and provides properly functioning equipment, supplies, and instruments before start of procedure and positions and adjusts equipment as required during the procedure
  • Anticipates needs of surgical team and assists anesthesia personnel by supporting patient during administration of anesthesia
  • Assists with the proper and safe positioning of the patient and prepares operative site as directed by established procedures
  • Makes sure compliance with principles of aseptic technique according to accepted standards
  • Assists with identification and confirmation of operative site
  • Provides for comfort in the physical environment by monitoring designated parameters
  • Communicates with other peri-operative care personnel and documents records accordingly
  • Responds in a timely manner to meet the needs of the patient and physician
  • Accurately comprehends and interprets verbal orders/directions
  • Documents patient care records and other forms accurately following policies and procedures
  • Accurately advises others responsible for care of the patient about patient’s status

Qualifications

• Cooperative work attitude toward co-employees, management, patients, visitors, and physicians
• Ability to promote favorable facility image with physicians, patients, patient’s family, and general public
• Ability to make decisions and solve problems

Requirements

• Graduate of accredited school of nursing
• Registered Nurse with active license in the state of Kentucky
• BLS, ACLS and PALS certification
• Leadership qualities
• Strong ethical and moral character references
• Language skills adequate for high-level written, interpersonal, and telephone communication

Preferred

• ASC experience

Job Quality Requirements

• Accuracy
• Attention to detail
• Timeliness
• Organization
• Leadership
• Physical stamina for working extra hours, if needed

Dependability

• Attendance
• Punctuality
• Ability to follow instructions
• Ability to meet deadlines

Physical/Mental Requirements

• Ability to sit/stand for long periods; ability to walk
• Visual and auditory acuity for frequent use of computer, telephone, and occasional use of other office equipment
• Capability for occasional overhead and low reaching
• Physical strength for equipment needs and patient-care activities
• Visual and auditory acuity for timely response and patient-care assessment activities
• Ability to move quickly in response to patient needs
• Ability to make constant/frequent judgments/respond to problems
• Ability to occasionally respond to disasters/emergencies, actual events, or drills

Working Conditions (Environmental)

• Well lit and ventilated, with non-hazardous and hazardous equipment
• Category III: involves occupational exposure to blood and other potentially infectious body fluids and materials

Contacts

• Patients
• Patients’ family/significant others
• Physicians and physician office personnel
• Facility personnel
• Vendors
• Medical Director
• Clinical Director