RN (Outpatient Surgery)

Sullivan County Community Hospital•Sullivan, IN

About The Position

The RN (Outpatient Surgery) provides perioperative nursing care for surgical and endoscopy patients, including assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and post-anesthesia recovery. The nurse coordinates care with other disciplines, supervises assigned perioperative nursing associates and assistants, and supports quality improvement in perioperative nursing care. The position includes on-call responsibilities for the department. The nurse works in an air-conditioned environment, generally at 65°F–72°F and 45%–55% humidity, with temperatures up to 85°F–90°F when assisting with pediatric cases. Hospital-provided scrub attire is worn while on duty. The environment may involve risks of cuts, bruises, muscle strains, contagious disease exposure through blood and body fluids, anesthetic waste gases, disinfectants, sterilizing agents, high steam pressure, and radiologic factors.

Requirements

Graduate of an accredited school of nursing.
Graduate of a formal perioperative nursing course or have documented on-the-job training.
Preferably have at least one year of experience in a clinical setting.
Have circulating and/or scrubbing duty experience.
Perform nursing interventions using the nursing process and current clinical knowledge within established nursing practice.
Continue to acquire surgery skills through clinical experience, on-the-job training, in-service education, and continuing education.
Proficiently read, write, and understand English.
Accurately read fine print, supply labels, patient identification bracelets, the surgical schedule, and policies and procedures.
Accurately hear and follow verbal instructions.
Push and pull heavy objects such as gurneys, patient beds, and operating room beds.
Lift patients, boxes weighing up to 40 pounds, and instrument sets weighing up to 20 pounds.
Hold a Registered Nurse license to practice in Indiana.
Hold current CPR and ACLS certifications.

Responsibilities

Assess patients’ physiological health status upon admission to the operating room and throughout the intraoperative period.
Assess patients’ psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual status upon admission to the operating room.
Identify nursing diagnoses appropriate to the intraoperative and postoperative periods.
Plan care based on assessed patient problems and needs.
Plan and coordinate perioperative care to support patient comfort, including efficient use of downtime, use of surgeon preference cards, and coordination with other disciplines.
Initiate discharge planning for local and endoscopy patients, including patient and family instruction, teaching, and resource referral.
Implement perioperative nursing care according to the established plan of care and operating room policies and procedures.
Supervise assigned perioperative nursing associates and assistants in carrying out actions needed to achieve identified goals.
Scrub and/or circulate simple and complex surgical and endoscopy procedures.
Evaluate the effectiveness of care provided.
Communicate perioperative nursing care.
Design, implement, and evaluate systems to improve the quality of perioperative nursing patient care.
Assume on-call duties for the department.
Manage airways effectively, frequently monitor respiratory adequacy, and intervene appropriately during post-anesthesia recovery.
Monitor the cardiac system of postoperative patients.
Identify arrhythmias and signs of shock and intervene appropriately.
Use the PAR scoring system to assess a patient’s progress toward post-anesthesia recovery.
Document care and complete charging procedures, including vital signs, intake and output, and the patient care record.
Consistently comply with established behavioral expectations.