Registered Nurse - First Assistant (RNFA)

Your Opportunity:

Come join a dynamic, efficient Operating Room Team and help us provide excellence in patient care. The Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) is a perioperative nurse who may function as an assistant to the surgeon in the operating room during surgical procedures. The RNFA performs first assistant behaviors according to ORNAC standards and standardized hospital policies. In addition to first assisting, responsibilities may include circulating, scrubbing, and other duties as assigned.

Responsibilities:

• Participates in the call rotation
• Participates in preoperative assessment and planning for selected surgical patients
• Recognizes safety hazards and initiates appropriate preventative and corrective actions
• Provides exposure through appropriate use of instruments, retractors, suctioning, and sponging
• Handles and dissects tissues in collaboration with the surgeon
• Clamps blood vessels, coagulates bleeding points, ligates vessels, and performs other procedures in collaboration with the surgeon
• Sutures muscle, fascia, subcutaneous, and skin tissue in collaboration with the surgeon
• Places drain as surgically indicated

Description:

The Registered Nurse (RN) participates in nursing assessments and interventions, care planning, implementing prescribed treatments, administering medications, evaluating treatments, and monitoring/documenting treatment progress and patient/resident response. Acting as an advocate, coordinator and liaison for the patient/resident, the RN identifies needs and sets priorities in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team. The RN facilitates patient/resident and family education and discharge planning, and may be required to act in a charge nurse capacity. The RN is responsible for the provision of care in accordance with established standards, and the Mission, Vision, Values, policies and procedures of Covenant Health. This position is covered by the terms and conditions of the UNA Collective Agreement.

Classification:

• Registered Nurse

Union:

• COV UNA

Unit and Program:

• Operating Room

Primary Location:

• St. Mary's Hospital

Location Details:

• As Per Location

Multi-Site:

• At (UNA only)

FTE:

• 0.74

Posting End Date:

• 22-SEP-2025

Temporary Employee Class:

• Temp P/T Benefits

Date Available:

• 02-OCT-2025

Temporary End Date:

• 28-FEB-2027

Hours per Shift:

• 7.75

Length of Shift in weeks:

• 4

Shifts per cycle:

• 14

Shift Pattern:

• Days, Evenings, Nights, Weekends, On Call

Days Off:

• As Per Rotation

Minimum Salary:

• $43.26

Maximum Salary:

• $59.21

Vehicle Requirement:

• Not Applicable

Required Qualifications:

• Graduate of a Registered Nurse program or recognized equivalent required.
• Active registration with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA) required.
• Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider (Level C) required.

Additional Required Qualifications:

• Graduate of a Perioperative Registered Nursing Program.
• Minimum 3 years current Operating Room Experience.
• Proficient in perioperative nursing practice as both scrub and circulating nurse with diversified operating room experience.
• Strong Communication and Interpersonal Skills.
• Excellent decision making and problem-solving skills.
• Models professional behavior.
• Demonstrates ability to exercise critical thinking.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate of a certified RNFA program.
• CNA Certification in Perioperative Nursing CPN(c) is required to practice as RNFA.
• Current ACLS.
• RNFA training will be provided to a suitable candidate.