ASC Nursing

Staff

Nursing staff includes a patient care manager, two assistant patient care managers, registered nurses, surgical technicians, anesthesia technician, senior hospital assistants, an administrative assistant, receptionist, and registration clerk. All staff work eight-hour shifts.

Specialties

The ASC is a hospital-based, multi-specialty, ambulatory surgery center with four operating rooms and two procedure rooms. Surgical specialties include Dermatology, ENT, General Surgery, Gynecology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Oral Surgery, Orthopedics, Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Transplant, Urology, and the Invitro Fertilization Program. The ASC has developed special programs with the Cytology Department and the Liver Transplant Service to care for patients having non-invasive procedures.

Nursing Skills

Nursing care in the operating room is provided in accordance with the Standards, Recommended Practices and Guidelines of the Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN.). Registered nurses and surgical technicians working in the operating room must be able to function in all of the surgical specialties. All skills should be applicable to patients of all ages. Specifically, the RN must:

• be able to both scrub and circulate for these specialties.
• have strong assessment skills when fulfilling the role of the preop nurse.
• be familiar with monitoring patients receiving IV conscious sedation or local anesthesia.

The post anesthesia care unit (PACU) consists of a fourteen-bed Stage I area and six patient areas in the Stage II or Step-down unit. The nursing care in the PACU is provided in accordance with the Standards of Post Anesthesia Nursing Practice of the American Society of Post Anesthesia Nurses (ASPAN.) The RN working the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) must:

• have at least one year of clinical experience in the PACU or a critical care setting.
• have strong teaching skills for doing both preoperative and postoperative teaching with patients and family members.

Along with appropriate education, skill level and experience, the nursing staff at the Surgery Center must be able to quickly establish rapport with patients and family members. This unit requires nurses who are concerned with details: nurses who assess, plan, act, and reassess with vigilance.

Employment Opportunities

Ambulatory surgery is the trend of the future. Information on job listings, benefit and applying for a position are available at Employment. If you wish to learn more about opportunities in the ASC, call (415) 353-2842 and ask to speak with the patient care manager.