The RN First Assistant collaborates with surgeons and the healthcare team to perform safe operations and ensure optimal patient outcomes. They are responsible for formulating individualized care plans, interpreting complex assessment data, and acting as a team leader in the surgical environment.
Requirements summary
Candidates must have 5 years of perioperative nursing experience as both a scrub and circulating nurse, or equivalent recommendations. Successful completion of an AORN-compliant RN First Assistant program and active California RN licensure with BLS/ACLS certification are required.
professional certificateCommunicationCollaborationBasic Life SupportCritical thinkingAdvanced Cardiac Life SupportTeam leadershipQuality improvementPatient advocacyPatient assessmentSurgical assistanceClinical decision makingCirculating nursingPerioperative nursingScrub nursing
Job description
Where You’ll Work Founded in 1926, Dignity Health - Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center is a 334-bed, acute care, nonprofit hospital.
Serving over 70,000 patients annually, the hospital offers a full complement of services including a Level III NICU, heart care, wound care and surgical services.
Additionally, Glendale Memorial Hospital has been recognized as an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
It is a Joint Commission-certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center and a SRC Center of Excellence for Robotic Surgery and Colorectal Surgery.
One Community.
One Mission.
One California Job Summary and Responsibilities As our Registered Nurse (RN), you will be a pivotal healthcare professional, delivering compassionate, high-quality care that truly impacts our patients' well-being and recovery.Every day, you will leverage your expertise to provide individualized, comprehensive care, making critical assessments, performing skilled procedures, and meticulously implementing patient care plans.
You'll collaborate seamlessly within an interdisciplinary team, contributing to a dynamic environment focused on optimal patient outcomes.To thrive in this vital role, you will possess keen assessment skills, acute critical thinking, and a patient-first mindset, driven by a profound enthusiasm to help others.
Your sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in a fast-paced environment will not only support patient recovery but also fuel your own career advancement.
Provides a safe therapeutic core by collaboration with the surgeons and health care team in performing a safe operation with optimal outcomes for the patient.
The RNFA practices preoperative nursing and must have acquired the necessary knowledge, skills and judgment specific to clinical practiceCollects and interprets complex assessment data, recognizes subtle changes in the patient Formulates an individualized plan of care for the patient with complex needs to achieve desired outcomesShares data with team and supports team with surgeon.
Gets procedure questions asked and helps to set up for correct procedures Makes clinical decisions based on experience, patient population data, and intuition, promotes the development of clinical decision making of all team members.Advocates patient rights from the patient/family perspective: provides counsel and acts as a resource to resolve issue Provides validation of clinical decision for other staff members, seeks validation from others for complex patients or unfamiliar situations Acts as a team leader in coordinating the care of the patient, and the team process Collaborates with the health care team and other disciplines to meet the desired outcomes Teamwork-Communicates effectively and works cooperatively with others.
Has respect for and understanding of other clinical disciplines.
Uses an integrated approach toward patient outcomesDemonstrates effective communication skills and seeks out opportunities to improve communication among health care team members/patients/families Delegates patient care activities to other health care team members and redirects unit activities ass patient acuity and census changes Actively participates as a member of the CVOR team and CVOR committeesWorks to implement practice initiatives in a positive and productive manner Able to perform in the Charge Nurse role by coordinating the staff and surgery schedule and handling day to day issues with positive outcomes Able to fill in as needed on the staffing schedule.
Helps with lunches and breaks The RNFA acts as a team leader or participant in the quality improvement process.
Actively identify areas and explores alternatives to care or practice.
Recommends revisions to standards or cost initiatives as needed.
We are not currently accepting new graduate or new to speciality applications.
Our next posting period will be July 1, 2026 for an October 16, 2026 start date.
Positions can be found under National Resident RN (<12 months experience as an RN) or RN Transition/Fellowship (>12 months experience as an RN. #LI-DH #RN@DH Job Requirements Required 5 Years of Perioperative Nursing practice as both a scrub and circulating nurse upon hire If less years of experience, 3 recommendations from practicing Surgeons and demonstrated clinical practice Successful completion of an RFNA program that meets Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) recommended education standards for RN First Assistant programs Current and active Registered Nurse: CA AHA Basic Life Support / Advanced Cardiac Life Support Preferred May have endovein harvesting, radial artery harvesting, or saphenous vein harvesting experience
