What does a regional anesthesia nurse do?

[Spinnurse]

I am going to apply for a "regional anesthesia (staff) nurse position. What interests me about it is the schedule is 6am to 230pm m to Friday and every 8th weekend, and one major holiday requirement. It says only a BLS is required not ACLS. So im unsure if this would be even in the OR. I imagine it may be a nurse that works under the pain management service that goes on the inpatient floors to check on epidurals and what not. (I have heard of such nurse that does this) but unsure really what would be involved in a position like this.

I have inpatient hemonc and pcu experience. I have worked with epidurals but very few times over the past 7 yrs.  I have great assessment and critical thinking skills. I did have my ACLS but it expired last year and is not required on the med surg hemonc floor.

Any advice and information would help! 

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I have never heard of this type of position. You may be best served by reaching out to the recruiter for more information. I'd be interested in hearing the details.

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Here is an article that discusses the role of a "block nurse".  I don't know if this pertains to what you are asking.

Implementing a Regional Anesthesia Block Nurse Team in the Perianesthesia Care Unit Increases Patient Safety and Perioperative Efficiency

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

11 minutes ago, tnbutterfly - Mary said:

Here is an article that discusses the role of a "block nurse".  I don't know if this pertains to what you are asking.

Implementing a Regional Anesthesia Block Nurse Team in the Perianesthesia Care Unit Increases Patient Safety and Perioperative Efficiency

Ooh, yes, a block nurse would make sense, especially with those hours that are a tad earlier than the traditional 0700 start. 

[MTRN18, BSN]

Sounds interesting! Following!

[RainMom]

If this a block nurse position, I'm surprised it wouldn't require ACLS considering the potential for codes r/t LAST reactions.  Our pre-op dept had one several yrs ago that did not end well ?

[Spinnurse]

10 minutes ago, RainMom said:

If this a block nurse position, I'm surprised it wouldn't require ACLS considering the potential for codes r/t LAST reactions.  Our pre-op dept had one several yrs ago that did not end well ?

Yea I'm thinking that it should have been listed but it says must have BLS and something like "may need other certifications required of the department." It says that on every job posting basically. So it very well could have required ACLS. The posting was filled so I'm not sure I will ever know exactly what is involved. Everyone who posted articles and descriptions were helpful though to my understanding.