Pre Anesthesia Nurse Clinician

Confluence Health•Wenatchee, WA

About The Position

Pre Anesthesia Testing Nurse Clinician RNs coordinate and contribute to pre-anesthesia testing to improve surgical and procedural outcomes through an optimization process. In partnership with Surgical Services, proceduralists, surgeons, and the Anesthesia team, they conduct appropriately timed assessments and use clinical judgment and best-practice protocols to optimize patients before surgery or procedures. They provide quality patient care across multiple procedural and surgical settings, support accurate documentation and timely interdisciplinary communication, and help ensure patients are in optimal condition before procedures. The role also includes patient and family education, process improvement, monitoring practice patterns, and may include participating in the development of clinical pathways. The position works collaboratively with the Pre Anesthesia Testing team to coordinate care and education for surgical and procedural candidates. It supports favorable clinical and financial outcomes, patient and family satisfaction, and improved postoperative outcomes through quality and cost measures.

Requirements

Associate’s Degree in Nursing.
Three to five years of experience in a perioperative nursing setting, such as pre-op, operating room, Phase 1, and/or Phase 2 recovery.
Prior experience with preoperative processes, such as pre-admission screening and pre-op teaching.
Current RN licensure in Washington state or licensure through the Multistate Nurse Licensure Compact.
Basic Life Support (CPR) certification.
Excellent organizational skills and ability to work collaboratively in a team-oriented environment.
Excellent interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills.
Proven ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment with frequent change.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing or a related degree.
Epic experience.
Perioperative certification, such as CAPA, CPAN, or AORN.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership, daily direction, and supervision to the health care team in delivering high-quality patient care.
Communicate effectively with patients, families, referring providers, and interdisciplinary care team members.
Coordinate patient flow and help the health care team provide care efficiently according to best-practice protocols.
Assess patients’ overall physical, emotional, and social condition; implement appropriate nursing actions; and collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to optimize patients for procedures and recovery.
Coordinate referrals and appointments needed to complete diagnostic or evaluation processes and support a safe surgical experience.
Triage and coordinate preoperative evaluation and optimization for unplanned urgent or emergent surgical and interventional procedure patients.
Maintain communication with surgeons, proceduralists, the Anesthesia team, and scheduling teams about patient progress and issues that may delay a procedure or affect outcomes.
Facilitate patient and family education about disease processes, surgical objectives, and perioperative timelines.
Serve as a resource and decision maker for staff regarding patient care problems and participate in training new staff.
Liaise with other service lines and health care agencies to promote coordinated care across the pre- and perioperative continuum.
Ensure required pre-anesthesia and preoperative documentation, checklists, and tracking tools are initiated, updated, and completed before the procedure date.
Meet mandatory and continuing education and skills competency requirements; support departmental goals; and serve as a preceptor, mentor, and resource to less experienced staff.
Collect, analyze, and address care-plan or care-path variances with care team members, using concurrent variance data to guide practice changes and improve outcomes.
Maintain active Basic Life Support (CPR) certification.
Perform other duties as assigned and demonstrate the organization’s Standards of Behavior and adhere to the Code of Conduct.