Job Summary: Provides direct pre-assessment nursing care to patients by performing the following duties.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: include the following.   Other duties may be assigned.

• Prepares patients for surgery by providing pre-operative instructions.

• Administers to the assessment of physical and emotional needs of patients and considers same for their families as appropriate.

• Understands and interprets physician's orders; prescribed medications and other pharmaceutical products in accordance with orders, reviews lab values, EKG's and x-ray reports. Checks the accuracy of admission paperwork (history, consents, instructions, etc.). Understands and interprets medication dosages, contraindications and side effects. Assessment and documentation of patients’ medical histories, including allergies and other assessment parameters, per policy. Faxes abnormal results to surgeon’s office and alerts anesthesia to any potential patient problems so they may confer with the surgeon.

• Understands and interprets medication dosages, contraindications and side effects, as they related to the surgery patient.

• Initiates safe practices and is knowledgeable about current center policies and procedures. Specific procedures and practices related to pain management assessment and identification, abuse and neglect, sentinel events and response, variance reporting, response to sentinel event alerts, participation in root cause analysis and other key policies and procedures is required.

• Ensures that Standard Universal Precautions and the principles of aseptic and sterile technique are used appropriately.

• Implements safe practices and provides knowledgeable guidance and evaluation of the environment of care management including life safety (fire prevention), security, hazardous materials and waste management, emergency preparedness, infection control, and the safe use of medical equipment and utilities.

• Provides assessment of physical, mental, pain and psychosocial health status of the adult and geriatric patient populations.

• Participates in patient/family pre-operative teaching for the surgery center’s patient population and their families.

• Responsibility to use the AT&T Language Line for interpretation of general medical or other instructional items, including consent, as may be required to lift language barriers. Hearing-impaired individuals require a certified deaf interpreter during all phases of the pre-assessment and peri-operative processes.

• Assesses and evaluates patient condition pre-operatively and communicates to physician and anesthesia personnel any changes in patient status or potential items that may affect the patient’s procedural or surgical condition (allergies, diet pills, chronic or acute diseases, weight limitations, etc.).

• Accurately documents patient care and information provided to the patient.

Language Skills: Ability to read and interpret documents such as physician orders and review results of the diagnostic tests, safety rules, operating and technical instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports (using accepted nursing abbreviations, etc., and correspondence via paper, computer or electronic media. Participation in the Center’s EDGE program.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to apply common sense understanding in carrying out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form. Interpretation of nursing diagnosis and applicable practice for peri-operative nursing care. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations and in times of crisis.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger coordination, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit. The employee is occasionally required to bend, lift, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move more than 100 pounds. Must have good visual acuity, correctable to 20/25 via prescription apparatus or operative correction.

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee may rarely work in outside weather conditions transferring patients to their means of travel (taxi, car, etc.) and is rarely exposed to chemical fumes or airborne particles. There is a risk of electrical shock, exposure to radiation and rare exposure to toxic or caustic chemicals. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Infection Control Risk of Level II.

Comments: Decision-making is limited to the scope of the job; however, decisions made have direct impacts on the medical staff, patients, families, center staff and visitors.

Education and/or Experience: Registered Nurse from a fully accredited school of nursing; license to perform as an Registered Nurse in the State of Arizona; two years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience is preferred. 

Certificates, License, Registrations: Current nursing license from the Arizona Board of Nurse Examiners and current CPR certification.