Perioperative Relief Nurse (Open)

Perioperative Relief Nurse

San Mateo Medical Center, a Division of San Mateo County Health, is seeking motivated and experienced Perioperative Relief Nurses for the PACU and Operating Room! Through growth and change, the San Mateo Medical Center remains committed to providing quality medical care to meet the health needs of the community. Our commitment is to provide quality care with a compassionate touch, and we strive to help you maintain a balance between work and family. San Mateo Medical Center, a 509-bed integrated care facility, has been providing healthcare to our community and the surrounding service area since 1930. We are currently have two Relief Nurse positions for our state-of-the-art Surgical Department.

Under supervision, Relief Nurses in our Operating Room will ensure safety in the Operating Room for surgeons and patients, scrubbing and circulating. You will provide healthcare instructions to patient and family, maintain accurate and continued nursing documentation, including patient histories, observations, condition and assessment of changes. You will administer and control medications and narcotics, including IV fluids and blood administration. You must have mastery of departmental equipment and technology.

PACU Nurses will take care of patients after surgery/in Recovery. You will provide healthcare instructions to patients and family, maintain accurate and continued nursing documentation, including patient histories, observations, condition and assessment of changes. You will administer and control medications and narcotics, including IV fluids and blood administration. You must have mastery of departmental equipment and technology.

Under direction, Relief Nurses perform professional nursing duties in a temporary employment capacity to provide coverage for nursing teams. These duties may include treating and educating patients, their families and the public about various medical conditions; record medical histories and symptoms; perform diagnostic tests and analyze results; operate medical machinery; administer treatment and medications; assist with patient follow-up and rehabilitation; and perform other duties as assigned. Incumbents also provide lead direction to other nursing and paraprofessional personnel. The Relief Nurse will be vitalizing, assessing and triaging patients with clinical needs, discussing care via telephone or in person, and acting at the behest of the medical providers.

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

• At least two years of experience in the Operating Room or PACU of an acute care hospital.
• Current BLS, ACLS, and PALS certifications.
• Experience working with procedural/conscious sedation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Be comfortable working in a high-pressure environment.
• Is knowledgeable in nursing care in the following areas:
• General surgery
• GYN
• Orthopedics
• Neuro
• ENT
• Urology
• Plastics
• Vascular surgery
• Patients receiving:
• General anesthesia
• Spinal/epidural anesthesia
• Monitored anesthesia care (MAC)
• Procedural sedation

Please note this position is not intended for Nurse Graduates. Critical Care Experience is preferred for these positions.

Operating Room and PACU Relief Nurse Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Perform intraoperative nursing duties.
• Collect, interpret, record, and communicate pertinent data relevant to the patient's care.
• Determine medical or psychiatric emergency need and provide intervention.
• Assist in the positioning of patients for surgery.
• Transfer patients to and from bed, gurney and/or operating table.
• Organize and coordinate schedules based on changes to patient status, the environment and procedures being administered.
• Protecting the patient from injury caused by extraneous objects and chemical, electrical, laser, mechanical, and thermal sources.
• Performing accounting procedures to protect the patient from unintended retained surgical items.
• Performing interventions necessary to ensure that the patient's procedure is performed on the correct site, side, and level.
• Managing the patient's specimens according to organizational policy and procedures.
• Communicating the patient's current status to relevant parties throughout the continuum of care.
• Administering medications safely and correctly.
• Performing interventions to ensure the patient is at or returned to normothermia at the conclusion of the immediate postoperative period.
• Complete patient assessments and triage, record patient histories, symptoms and observations.
• Establish and implement nursing care plans for each patient through assessment, development, activation and evaluation.
• Organize, assign and supervise duties and responsibilities of other staff members as a team leader; orient and teach new staff members of the nursing team and students.
• Perform nursing care following prescribed rules, policies, protocol and procedures.
• Identify problems, assist in data gathering, propose solutions and participate in evaluation of quality assurance issues.
• Work with patient and their families to provide in-hospital and after-hospital follow-up through teaching and referral.
• Participate in educational programs to maintain level of expertise.
• Participate in non-clinical assignments, which may include maintaining records, preparing reports and/or serving on special committees.
• Maintain records and prepare reports.
• Administer treatment and medications.
• Maintain knowledge of outpatient resources.
• Develop discharge plans for patients.
• Perform related duties as assigned and as required by assigned work setting, as described below.
• Perform pre-and post-operative nursing duties.
• Collect, interpret, record and communicate pertinent data relevant to the patient's care.
• Determine medical or psychiatric emergency need and provide intervention.
• Assist in the positioning of patients for surgery.
• Transfer patients to and from bed, gurney and/or operating table.
• Organize and coordinate schedules based on changes to patient status, the environment and procedures being administered.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Licensure/Certification:

• A valid California license as a Registered Nurse.
• Possession and maintenance of BLS certification.
• Possession and maintenance of ACLS certification within three months of hire.
• For Relief Nurses in PACU, BLS, ACLS and PALS are required.

Knowledge of:

• Nurse Practice Act.
• Current nursing and related medical theory and skills necessary to administer nursing care within assigned clinical setting.
• Safety and infection control practices.
• Clinical systems, supplies and equipment.

Skill/Ability to:

• Perform nursing procedures required for assigned clinical setting.
• Comply with clinical procedures and policies.
• Maintain professional nurse-patient relationships.
• Communicate with and educate patients, families, and the public who come from a diverse background.
• Work harmoniously with other personnel.
• Follow safety practices.
• Assist in the instruction of other nursing and paraprofessional personnel.
• Bend, kneel and squat as needed.
• Occasionally use upper extremities to exert force to push and pull patients/objects weighing up to 50 pounds or more.
• Work in a busy environment.

If you are interested in being considered for a Perioperative Relief Nurse position in the PACU, the following materials must be electronically submitted in a Word or PDF format and emailed to:

Rachel Rivers, Deputy Director of Nursing Services, San Mateo Medical Center, View email address on click.appcast.io

• Resumé
• Responses to Supplemental Questions

1. Describe how your experience and skills have prepared you for a position as a Perioperative Nurse, in PACU, Endoscopy or the Operating Room. Please include both the technical knowledge, leadership, and certifications you possess.
2. The Perioperative unit can be a high intensity environment that requires staff to handle multiple, dynamic, and often difficult situations at the same time. Please describe a difficult situation involving all or some of the following stake holders,