RN First Assistant Surgery

Founded in 1955, Dignity Health - Northridge Hospital Medical Center is a 394-bed, acute care, nonprofit hospital located. Serving over 80,000 patients annually, the hospital offers a full complement of services including a Level II Trauma Center, heart care, cancer care and women’s health. It is the only pediatric trauma center in the San Fernando Valley. 

Additionally, Northridge Hospital Medical Center has been recognized as an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality High Performer by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. It is a Joint Commission-certified Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center and has been recognized as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by Healthgrades in 2026.

One Community. One Mission. One California 

Northridge Hospital Medical Center

Registered Nurse First Assistant

All employees are expected to perform their duties in alignment with the vision and values of the organization.  The person doing this job is responsible for a variety of tasks that lead to a high level of customer satisfaction in the most cost-effective manner with respect and dignity.  The Registered Nurse First Assistant is a professional Registered Nurse and is a specialized area of practice. Registered nurses practicing as first assistants in surgery are functioning in an expanded perioperative nursing role. First assisting behaviors are further refinements of perioperative nursing practice and are executed within the context of the nursing process. These behaviors include certain delegated medical functions that can be assumed by the RN who is qualified to practice as an RNFA. Registered nurse first assistant behaviors may vary depending on patient populations, practice environments, service provided, accessibility of human and fiscal resources, institutional policy, and state nursing regulations. The Registered Nurse also may provide professional nursing care to  patients of all ages in accordance with individual needs, physician orders, Hospital policy and standards of nursing practice.

The RNFA is a perioperative registered nurse who works in collaboration with the surgeon and other health care team members to achieve optimal patient outcomes; has acquired the necessary knowledge, judgment, and skills specific to the expanded role of RNFA clinical practice; intra operatively practices at the direction of the surgeon; and does not concurrently function as a scrub person. preoperative patient management in collaboration with other health care providers, such as performing focused preoperative nursing assessments communicating and collaborating with other health care providers regarding the patient plan of care, and intraoperative performance of surgical first-assistant techniques as in using instruments and medical devices providing surgical site exposure, handling and/or cutting tissue, providing hemostasis, suturing; or other defined practices as described in the allied health privileging process via the oversight and approval of the Hospital medical staff.

Requirements

• Graduate of Accredited RN school of Nursing.
• Successful completion of an RNFA program that meets the "AORN standards for RN first assistant education programs"¹ compliance with all statutes, regulations, and institutional policies relevant to RNFAs as defined by the hospital medical staff criteria
• At least one (1) year current acute care registered nursing experience required. 
•  Must have successful completion of an accredited/approved Nursing program.
• Current certification in specialty area – certification in perioperative nursing (CNOR) is required.
• Registered Nurse with current California License
• Current and active BLS card.
• Fire Card Required within 90 days of hire

Preferred

• Experience with EHR (Cerner, MediTech, etc)
• Certified Nurse Operating Room, upon hire