Interviewing for a peri-operative partner - any tips/advice?

[twentysomething]

Hi everyone,

I will be interviewing for a position as a perioperative partner, and would value any tips and suggestions that vetaran and experienced OR nurses/managers have, including what you would be looking for in a peri-operative partner and/or questions that may asked in the interview.

A little bit of info:

The position does not require licensure (duties include transfer of patients, cleaning the OR, and basically prepping the room for turnover (so licensed staff can put more focus on the patient and nursing care). The position is mostly for weekends.

I have never worked in the OR, however I am a recent grad, and I feel this position would be a great opportunity to be exposed to this environment and of course, a great learning experience. I hope they do not feel my degree deems me overqualified, because I am VERY willing to LEARN and perform the duties of the Peri-op partner. I will definitely do my best if hired into this position.

Any scenarios (ie. what have your experiences been with great peri-op partners been), interview questions (ie. what would you ask me), what are YOU looking for (ie. qualities/characteristics/skills) -- ANYTHING would extremely helpful and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. IT will truly be BIG help :redbeathe

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I need a bit of clarification. Are you a NURSING grad? Meaning you have your nursing license? If so, then this position is NOT the one you want. It sounds like you will be doing housekeeping, which is fine to learn but it is not what you want to do, trust me on that.

This position sounds like what we call Operating Room Assistants, or ORAs for short. This position entails cleaning rooms between cases, running frozen sections to the lab, transporting patients, running blood gasses, and helping to find positioning equipment. At my hospital, only a high school diploma or a GED is required to do this job. There are only 4 or 5 out of about 15 ORAs that are worth their weight in gold. The rest will either pretend that they don't speak English, come up with an excuse as to why they cannot turn the rooms over, or claim to have no idea what positioning equipment you are looking for. They are hard to find for the most part and don't really care about what you want, but are only looking for the time to pass. The good ones are constantly picking up the slack for the others.

Twenty, the only reason I am telling you this is because I am afraid that you will be incredibly frustrated in this position if it is, in fact, the position of an ORA.

If you can clarify for me, then I can guide you with interview questions if this position entails more than an ORA's responsibilities.