Anesthesia OR ARNP

UIOWA•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

The Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) in the Department of Anesthesia performs pre-operative and post-anesthesia assessments for patients scheduled for surgery at UI Health Care Medical Center University. The ARNP provides postoperative management in the PACU, supports multimodal pain management, and works within an interdisciplinary team that includes CRNAs, nurses, physicians, administration, and others involved in patient care. The position exercises autonomy in medical decision-making and services provided while collaborating with staff physicians as appropriate. The ARNP also contributes to research related to pre-operative and pre-anesthesia assessments and supports UI Health Care’s educational and research missions. The ARNP assists in educating resident physicians, medical students, and nurse anesthetist students rotating through the OR. The role includes helping patients understand anesthetic teaching materials and pre-operative instructions, coordinating clinical evaluations and testing, communicating special needs to the anesthesia team, and contributing to perioperative care pathways, quality improvement, and patient safety efforts. The position also supports effective OR operations and helps maintain respectful, collaborative standards among colleagues and employees.

Requirements

Master's or Doctorate degree from an accredited Nursing program.
Current certification in a specialty area.
Active Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner and Registered Nurse licenses in the state of Iowa.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to contribute to a welcoming and respectful workplace environment.
Ability to prioritize workflow.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience in the area of clinical practice.
Ability to function with a high degree of independence in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team providing care for highly complex patients.

Responsibilities

Review patient records, including prior anesthetics, surgical and nursing work-ups, consultant work-ups, and other relevant clinical notes and testing.
Evaluate patients according to the standard anesthetic evaluation, including medical history, airway examination, heart and lung examination, and other clinically indicated examinations.
Provide postoperative management in the PACU, including assessing and treating pain, nausea, hemodynamic concerns, and other common postoperative conditions under established protocols and in collaboration with physicians.
Assist with multimodal pain management, including medication titration, regional anesthesia follow-up, and escalation of complex pain concerns to anesthesia faculty as appropriate.
Participate in developing and implementing standardized perioperative care pathways, quality improvement initiatives, and patient safety efforts.
Perform further evaluation as directed by the staff physician.
Help patients understand anesthetic teaching materials and interpret NPO instructions.
Instruct patients about medications to take on the day of surgery, including insulin dose management.
Write pre-medication orders in consultation with the staff physician or clinic supervisor.
Order diagnostic tests in consultation with the staff physician.
Request relevant outside medical records, including through calls to outside physicians, offices, or hospitals.
Coordinate with services within or outside the hospital to request consultation or further work-up in cooperation with the staff physician.
Communicate patients’ special needs or concerns to the anesthesia team.
Collect information such as work-up duration and patient health status to help optimize OR function.
Identify issues that may dissatisfy patients or lead to inefficiency.
Teach substitutes or replacements about the position’s duties and teach pre-operative/pre-anesthesia evaluation to junior residents or SRNA students by example and direct instruction.
Establish and maintain respectful, honest, service-oriented collaborative interactions among peers and employees and uphold shared standards and ethics.
Support high performance by stewarding University resources, setting expectations, measuring success through individual performance evaluations, and driving organizational results.
Identify development opportunities and create plans that support employees’ personal and professional growth; engage self and staff in reflecting on the University’s broader role in society.
Perform other duties as assigned.