The Ambulatory Surgery Unit Nurse is responsible for the planning, execution, delivering, and evaluating both direct and indirect patient care of surgical and endoscopy patients in an outpatient setting. The incumbent duties range from preoperative to postoperative interventions and other tasks necessary to meet patient's needs throughout surgical and endoscopic procedures, thus ensuring patient safety and continuity of care during the surgical /procedural experience.

Duties

The incumbent is responsible for coordinating and delivering patient care in a multi-service operating room while ensuring safe practices are utilized as per OR policy, ASPAN, and AORN standards. The incumbent acts as a patient advocate at all times, especially while patient is under anesthesia. The Ambulatory Surgery RN performs and rotates through all phases of perioperative care: as a circulating nurse coordinating the care of the patients, serves as the patient's advocate throughout the intraoperative experience, and has responsibility for managing and implementing activities outside the sterile field; Performs post anesthesia care from local to general anesthesia; Performs moderate sedation as needed on designated procedures; Performs admission and discharge functions;; patient education. Activities are directed toward assuring patient safety and achieving desired patient outcomes. The nursing process is used as a framework for these activities. The duties of Ambulatory Surgery RN include but not limited to: Admission, Discharge and Patient Education. Providing emotional support to the patients prior to the induction of anesthesia. Performing ongoing assessment. Formulating nursing diagnosis. Documenting patient care to accurately reflect patient status and patient care activities Evaluating patient outcomes. Obtaining appropriate surgical/procedural instruments, supplies, and equipment. Assisting a surgeon with surgical positioning. Handling and maintaining Reusable Medical Equipment (RME). Preparing the sterile field and setting up the sterile table(s). Performing Moderate Sedation for GI procedures as needed based on ASA. Monitor patients undergoing local anesthesia. Communicating relevant information to other team members and to patients' family. Implementing and enforcing policies and procedures that contribute to patient safety, such as surgical checklists, "time-out" protocols, surgical counts for instruments, sharps, and soft goods, and performing equipment checks. Follows established SOP's and checklists in the set-up, cleaning, transporting, and storing reusable medical equipment (RME). Follows ASPAN guidelines for post anesthesia recovery in phase I and phase II. Safely utilizes and maintains hospital property and equipment. All other additional duties. VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package: VA Nurse Total Rewards Pay: Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 0700-1530, Rotating Shifts: 0800-1630; 0830-1700 Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Bargaining Unit: This position is part of the Bargaining Unit

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Graduate of a school of professional nursing approved by one of the following accrediting bodies at the time the program was completed by the applicant: The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The approving official may authorize a waiver of the requirement for ACEN or CCNE accreditation of any degree in nursing provided the college or university has regional accreditation from an accrediting body recognized by the Department of Education at the time of the candidate's graduation and the composite qualifications of the applicant warrant such consideration. In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of current, full, active and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement of graduation from an approved school of professional nursing. OR The completion of coursework equivalent to a nursing degree in a MSN Bridge Program that qualifies for professional nursing registration constitutes the completion of an approved course of study of professional nursing. Students should submit the certificate of professional nursing to sit for the NCLEX to the VA along with a copy of the MSN transcript. (Reference VA Handbook 5005, Appendix G6) OR In cases of graduates of foreign schools of professional nursing, possession of a current, full, active and unrestricted registration will meet the requirement for graduation from an approved school of professional nursing. Current, full, active, and unrestricted registration as a graduate professional nurse in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e., Puerto Rico) of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Preferred Experience: Perioperative nursing practice to include Ophthalmology, Podiatry, Urology, General Surgery and Orthopedics. Endoscopy procedures to include Colonoscopy, EGD and Bronchoscopy Peri-Anesthesia Care to include general anesthesia, monitored anesthesia care (MAC), moderate sedation, surgical procedures to include eye, podiatry, general surgery, orthopedics, urology and GI. Moderate/conscious sedation competency. Patient clinical assessment and interview skills Patient education Grade Determinations: The following criteria must be met in determining the grade assignment of candidates, and if appropriate, the level within a grade: Nurse I Level I - An Associate Degree (ADN) or Diploma in Nursing, with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse I Level II - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 1 year of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a bachelor's degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience; OR a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) with no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse I Level III - An ADN or Diploma in Nursing and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR an ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a BSN with approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing (MSN) or related field with a BSN and no additional nursing practice/experience. Nurse II - A BSN with approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR ADN or Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor's degree in a related field and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Master's degree in nursing or related field with a BSN and approximately 1-2 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree in nursing or meets basic requirements for appointment and has doctoral degree in a related field with no additional nursing practice/experience required. Nurse III - Master's degree in nursing or related field with BSN and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience; OR a Doctoral degree and approximately 2-3 years of nursing practice/experience. Note regarding MSN degrees: If your MSN was obtained via a Bridge Program that qualifies for professional nursing registration, a BSN is not required. Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-6 Nurse Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. Physical Requirements: This position may require potentially long periods of continued Heavy lifting of 45 pounds and over, Heavy carrying of 45 pounds and over, Straight pulling for 1 hour, Pulling hand over hand for .5 hours, Pushing for 6 hours, Reaching above shoulder, Use of fingers, Both hands required, Walking for 6 hours, Standing for 6 hours, Crawling for 1 hour, Kneeling for 1 hour, Repeated bending 1 hour, Climbing, use of legs only for 1 hour, Both legs required, Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, Both eyes required, Depth perception, Ability to distinguish basic colors, Ability to distinguish shades of colors, Hearing (aid may be permitted), Mental and emotional stability.

Education

The Associate Degree Nursing (ADN), Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN), or Master of Science degree in Nursing (MSN) must be fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) or the Commission On Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Verification of accreditation may be obtained from http://www.acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programsearch.htm or https://directory.ccnecommunity.org/reports/accprog.asp

• If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.
• If your school was accredited by ACEN or CCNE at the time of graduation, but is no longer listed on the websites, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address El Paso VA Clinic 5001 North Piedras Street El Paso, TX 79930 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]