About this role
Schedule: This rotating full-time position will require shifting to weekends, various shifts, and providing holiday coverage as needed by the department. The orientation schedule will vary between 7:00am-3:30pm, 3:00pm-11:30pm, and 11:00pm-7:30am for the experience. After orientation, the permanent shift will be Monday through Friday 10:00am-6:30pm. On-call requirements per schedule are as follows: Call coverage will be from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am on weekdays/24 hours on weekends (1-hour response time from when called to be onsite).
The Operating Room Assistant reflects the mission, vision, and values of Northwestern Memorial, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.
As a member of the surgical team; provides support services to the surgical patient, and OR team. The ORA is responsible for transporting patients post operatively from the recovery room to Same Day Surgery and direct from the OR to nursing units as assigned. The ORA is responsible for additional functions including assisting in general cleaning, movement of equipment, specimen and blood products transport and assisting with patient care. This position promotes efficiency in the operating room for our surgical patients and the OR team.
Responsibilities:
Surgical Specimens & Blood Products
Transports specimens from OR to universal tube system and tubes to appropriate locationLogs each surgical pathology specimen into pathology log book recording time transported and initialsResponsible for specimen service requests sent by means of specimen pager in Feinberg OR Responds to specimen pick-up requests immediatelyFaxitron specimens are picked up from the OR and walked to radiology immediately for processingPerforms daily specimen reconciliation with pathology staff and reports for quality managementReceives blood products via universal tube system and direct from blood bank and places in blood refrigerator and delivers to OR suite as directed adhering to our reconciliation communication processPicks up and returns blood refrigerator to and from blood bank as directedWalks all surgical pathology tissue specimens direct from OR to path lab; logs in book and performs handoffCSS Responsibilities
Transports soiled case carts to soiled lift and sends to CSS for re-sterilizationOperates clean case cart lift and removes clean case carts and instruments and delivers to appropriate OR suitesSurgical Patient & Belongings Transport
Transports surgical patientsAssists in OR with patient lifting, positioning, and transfer as directed by nursing staffDelivers SDS patient belongings to correct patient in recovery room and to nursing units as necessaryEquipment/Supplies
Transports lasers, microscopes, and other OR equipment from storage areas, down multiple corridors to the appropriate OR suite and returns to equipment storage when no longer neededObtains supplies from warehouse pod cart and delivers to OR roomsConsistently and frequently refills warmers with blankets and irrigation solutions to maintain supplyReplenishes scrub brushes, masks, and goggles as needed to maintain supply Exchanges empty O2 tanks to full tanks as necessary on all patient stretchers and beds when below 1-PSIMoves clean total joint/bariatric/clinitron and specialty beds from various locations and places outside of OR suites intra-operatively as directed and notifies control desk coordinator when task completedTwists, stoops and bends to clean surgical stretchers as needed and thoroughly clean M-W-FOperates copier and copies 4am surgical schedules as per 4am schedule listCleans each patient stretcher as necessaryPerforms intra-op linen change on each stretcher outside of operating roomsDocks Neptune suction machine after each usePicks-up and returns supplies from other departments as neededIdentifies, isolates, communicates, and documents broken equipment for repair being specific as to identify the malfunctionInventories/reports/replenishes forms when form levels are low in PODPlaces equipment inside and outside of OR suite for next day first casesAssists in readiness and assembly of surgical supplies and room setupCommunications
Demonstrates clear and logical thinking skillsAbility to make good sound patient first decisionsRequires basic reading and writing skills for understanding and documentation purposesTake and receive directions from CDC and nursing staffs in delivery and promotion of quality servicesDemonstrates daily flexibility to perform tasks when interacting with control desk and nursing staffsMaintains communication link with CDC by communicating completion of assigned tasks, delays, changes, and other pertinent information for relay to OR teamORA must respond to Expediter “ORA” light in timely mannerThe ORA will interact and communicate with the ORSC or charge nurse of the POD who will dispense pod specific duties as summarized in this documentDaily breaks and lunches will be assigned based on workflow with input form the ORSC and communicated to the shift RC/managerThe nursing charge person or ORSC will be identified to the ORA by means of the pod grease board and to the department RC on a daily basisThe ORA documents their name and pager number on POD grease board dailyPager Responsibilities
ORA staff must respond immediately when paged ORA staff pager number and name must be recorded on the grease board in pod area daily by ORA staffOther Duties/Responsibilities
Demonstrates pro-active approach to achieve work completionAbility to get along with other team members and charge staffsAssists in the surgical patients pre-operative skin prepPrecepts new employees in the performance of job responsibilitiesAdheres to universal tube system standards when operating system and utilizes downtime procedure as necessaryMust be able to walk and stand for entire shiftORA supports other pods to promote quality services and productivityORA staff assists and initiates between case cleaning when necessaryMaintains a clean and orderly work environmentUpon completion of all rooms in assigned pod, the ORA is to report their availability to the shift RC/manager for re-assignmentORA records and time stamps all activity performed onto ORA log/trip sheet for each shift workedThis position requires the ORA staff to be on-callPerforms other duties as assignedAvailability
Demonstrates regular and reliable attendanceAdditional Functions
Provides assistance with case setup for assigned rooms Minimum Requirements:
Education:
High School graduateCertification:
BLS (Provider) through the American Heart AssociationPreferred:
Previous hospital experience preferred in transport or Environmental ServiceDemonstrates excellent Customer service friendly skills Northwestern Medicine is an equal opportunity employer (disability, VETS) and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status.
Background Check
Northwestern Medicine conducts a background check that includes criminal history on newly hired team members and, at times, internal transfers. If you are offered a position with us, you will be required to complete an authorization and disclosure form that gives Northwestern Medicine permission to run the background check. Results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and we follow all local, state, and federal laws, including the Illinois Health Care Worker Background Check Act.
Artificial Intelligence Disclosure
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used in some portions of the candidate review process for this position, however, all employment decisions will be made by a person.
Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits that provide employees with tools and resources to improve their physical, emotional, and financial well-being while providing protection for unexpected life events.
Click on or copy and paste URL to your browser to view detailed benefits information https://jobs.nm.org/benefits
Please refer to the Benefits Eligibility by Employment Classification to determine benefits eligibility for job postings.
If sign-on bonus is included in a job posting eligibility is as followed: Internal employees and rehires who left Northwestern Medicine within 1 year are not eligible for the sign-on bonus. Exception: New graduate internal employees seeking their first licensed clinical position as a Registered Nurse at NM may be eligible.