RNFA 'S

Specialties Operating Room

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Are there any RNFA's that are MAD or getting Mad about the Surgical scrub first assisting?

Maybe we should be! #1 This is a job we have worked very hard for, we went to school to get a degree and had to pass the Boards. Then we had to aquire a place in the O.R. and work many hard hours to be experienced in our jobs. We had to prove ourselves to the surgeons and our peers.We then moved on to being a CNOR again to prove our knowledge and ability. Then we chose to go to an RNFA program for which we put in 120 documented and audited hours with case studies etc..

To become a CRNFA we had to aquire 2000 documented hours buy books and take a test that cost about $500 all of this and now our jobs and licences are on the line for ST's that go to school for 9mo have no licenece and then proceed to skip 10 steps and want to be First Assistants I say it's time to get MAD and do something. I don't plan on watching someone take something I worked very hard for. If the techs want to First Assist then they can go to school and get the proper licence and degree and I will support them Does anyone have an opinion on this or Do I stand alone??

Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

also onebadort, people are sensitive so you shouldn't assume that you won't step on a few toes when you blatantly put down nurses for not being up to your level of competency. I can't believe there are no good, veteran OR nurses within 60 miles of wherever you work that a surgeon could use. Seems illogical. Just don't worry about what people think of you and do your job well.

ps, I was reading old threads and thought alnamvet was back. He's a work of art.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I'm still trying to stop laughing about the begging doctors!! :D

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I'm still trying to stop laughing about the begging doctors!! :D

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This thread has really got me thinking. Thank you OR1stRN for listing some of your duties but and I dont mean to be insulting, what do you do that an RN dosent. We organize the list at the start of the day. We ensure the equipment is prepared. We check bloods, consent. We ensure the patient is informed of whats ahead. We in fact run the show. To me the surgeon walks in an hour after we do, scrubs and does his part, however the OR RNs actually call the shots. Here in London our surgeons have junior doctors to hold retractors, close skin ect. Its considered a very basic duty for those wanting to become surgeons some day. However for CST, this basic duty is now considered a career. Wont you get tired of such a mundane task eventually?.

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This thread has really got me thinking. Thank you OR1stRN for listing some of your duties but and I dont mean to be insulting, what do you do that an RN dosent. We organize the list at the start of the day. We ensure the equipment is prepared. We check bloods, consent. We ensure the patient is informed of whats ahead. We in fact run the show. To me the surgeon walks in an hour after we do, scrubs and does his part, however the OR RNs actually call the shots. Here in London our surgeons have junior doctors to hold retractors, close skin ect. Its considered a very basic duty for those wanting to become surgeons some day. However for CST, this basic duty is now considered a career. Wont you get tired of such a mundane task eventually?.

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Plastics is still not regulated, per se...any md or do can have a manufacturers rep come to his office and give him an inservice on inplants, etc, and the doc can start doing extreme makeovers at will...they just can't say they are Fellows of the American College of Surgeons in their advertising. Again, I suggest you all do your research first as to what exactly a CSA is, the required training and education involved, and then make an educated opinion. I do not know of an RNFA who had to have a years worth of didactics, followed by a years worth of OR clinicals as a condition of their certification. I don't care if you have a zillion years working the OR...I know of many OR nurses with more than 10 years experience, who if they had to document actual hours scrubbing in, would be embarrassed with the result. CSA's are trained and educated specifically to be First Assists...perhaps the best 1st Assist would be an RN/NP who has had formal CSA training...I don't see the RNFA requirements as solid foundation to practice as a 1st Assist.

You apparently don't know many RNFA's. RNFA's are first educated with a bachelors degree. Then atleast 2 years of ciruclating and scrubbing before they can even attend RNFA training. Then they must be certified as OR nurses. Then complete a year long program which includes didactic and precepted first assisting. Then if they choose to certify as an assistant they have to document 2000hrs of assisting to sit for the exam. Then they must maintain CME's every 5years to recertify. What basis of education does a CSA have? I happen to be an RNFA and completing my FNP degree in Dec. so perhaps I am 2/3 the best 1st Assistant.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
However for CST, this basic duty is now considered a career. Wont you get tired of such a mundane task eventually?.

I'd think if i were a CST i would be MORE tired of people constantly finding ways to insult my chosen field or work.

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CST's get insulted all the time by well meaning persons. I guess it comes with the territory.

That's not to say we don't have our supporters.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
CST's get insulted all the time by well meaning persons. I guess it comes with the territory.

Still not a reason why they have to tolerate it though.

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Still not a reason why they have to tolerate it though.

So true Marie.

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Specializes in Surgery.

Hey..........I have just started my RNFA training program. I hear what you are saying. The surgeon who encouraged me to become an RNFA originally hired a ST as his group's assistant because it was cheaper than hiring an RN. Then he discovered that she couldn't do any of the pre- and post-op duties. He also discovered that as skilled as she was as a ST, her knowledge jsut didn't measure up to any of the OR nurses, much less an RNFA. So, my suggestion is not to get mad.............get ahead. Make sure that you are as knowledgeable as possible. Act as an educator to everyone........including the surgeons, residents, RN, ST, patients and their families about what an RNFA is and can offer. Maintain the hightest level of professionalsim. Check the job decsriptions that your facility and department has regarding who can act as an assistant. Get your manager and senior VP of nursing behind you. Have all of your little ducks in a row. Hang in there.

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I am currently an RNFA intern in a hospital that does not recognize RNFA's. The director has told us that he is not willing to pursue a policy for using RNFA's. Is there anyone who has gone through this process. The hospital will not give me privileges because I am not masters prepared.

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