Rnfa Certification Programs
About the RNFA Program The Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) is a perioperative registered nurse (RN) or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) who functions in an expanded role as a surgical first assistant. The RNFA works in collaboration with the surgeon and other health care team members to achieve optimal patient outcomes; utilizes the necessary knowledge, judgment, and skills specific to the expanded role of RNFA clinical practice; and practices intraoperatively at the direction of the surgeon” (AORN, 2015). The RNFA role is recognized within the scope of nursing practice by the nurse practice acts in all 50 states and may vary depending on patient populations, the environment in which the RNFA practices, services provided, availability of fiscal resources including reimbursement policies, and institutional credentialing regulations. (AORN, 2015). Who Should Apply?
A current, unrestricted RN license; Either have CNOR certification or be an advanced registered nurse practitioner with a specialty certification; Have a bachelor's degree in any field; Documented completion of a formal RNFA program that's on CCI's acceptable program list; Documented completion of a minimum of 2,000.
• Applicants must have: (1) current RN license, (2) BCLS, ACLS (preferred), (3) minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 AND (4) one of the following: • BSN or RN enrolled in BSN accredited program (CNOR/CNOR eligible) • MSN/DNP/PhD with APRN certification • BSN/MSN/DNP/PhD seeking APRN and/or CNOR certification How To Earn RNFA Certificate of Completion? • Must achieve: (1) successful completion of 3 RNFA courses, AND (2) CNOR or APRN certification (eligible) (students who complete the 3 RNFA courses but have not earned CNOR or APRN certification at time of completion of RNFA program will be issued a certificate of completion upon proof of CNOR or APRN certification) How To Earn RNFA Certification?
• Must have RNFA Program certificate of completion AND proof of completion of 2,000 RNFA practice hours. Individual states have different requirements to become eligible to practice as a RNFA. Contact your state Board of Nursing to learn about specific requirements. Please refer to the residency requirements for Certificate program taken from our admissions page: Graduate certificate applicants with APN license should contact the Office of Student Affairs at 901-448-6139 or for questions on state authorization. RNFA applicants without APN licensure (those currently CNOR eligible and enrolled in an RN to BSN program) must reside in the tri-state area (TN, MS, AR) during their enrollment. Clinical must be completed in TN, MS, or AR.
Students accepted into certificate programs are not eligible for federal financial aid. See complete admission requirements on Nursing CAS. The graduate of the RNFA program will be able to: • Explore potential surgical hazards and safety measures to prevent injury including patient and occupational related hazards. • Explain the design and use of key surgical instruments used for surgical procedures. • Demonstrate knowledge of common surgical procedures incorporating an understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology. • Demonstrate proper sequence of procedures, assisting behaviors, operative technique and knowledge of potential complications related to the surgical procedure.
• Exhibit proper handling and knowledge of surgical instruments and medical devices, providing surgical site exposure, handling tissue, cutting tissue, providing hemostasis, suturing, and wound management. • Develop a continuous and applicable nursing assessment, plan of care and patient evaluation throughout the perioperative period in collaboration with other health care providers. • Document intraoperative patient management in the surgical first-assisting clinical experience.
• Document postoperative patient management such as participation in postoperative rounds and assisting with discharge planning including identification of appropriate community resources intraoperative clinical experiences precepted by Board-Certified Surgeons.
RNFA Schedule • • • • The RNFA course is held in H-107, the perioperative learning lab. Five-day intensive didactic sessions are offered twice a year, in June and October. Sessions run from Wednesday through Sunday. The Sunday session ends at noon. This is not a certification course and is not a certificate program. At the conclusion of the requirements you will receive a grade and a certificate of completion. We are accepted by CCI as required by AORN Standards for the Education of the RNFA.
The new requirement for acceptance into a program as of 2020 will be bachelor's degree (entry level). Use CRN numbers when registering for lectures and labs (see below). After your registration name and address officially appear in the roster, you will be sent the official credentialing packet via email (PDF) to confirm eligibility for course entry. Textbooks Participants are required to obtain Assisting in Surgery by Rothrock and Seifert, available through the.
Additionally, a copy of the table of contents for the AORN Core Curriculum 4th Edition will be made available in class. The RNFA Core is out of print and being revised at this time. Phillips is the co-chair of the revision task force. The new book will be an e-book and should be available later this year. Please look over the table of contents before arrival. These resources are not available in the college bookstore.
Those participants planning to take the CNOR exam and Advanced Practice Nurses not experienced in the OR should consider obtaining Berry and Kohn's Operating Room Technique 12th edition (available in the college and AORN bookstores) for detailed nuts and bolts of perioperative nursing. There is also a chapter on first assisting in the book. Berry and Kohn's 12/e is available in the college bookstore and is recommended for those nurses who have less experience in perioperative nursing practice. Internship Part of eligibility is establishing an independent internship at your home facility. RNs must be CNOR certified or eligible to sit for the CNOR exam. Canadian Perioperative Nurse Certification is accepted.
Advanced practice nurses with advanced practice certification are exempt from the CNOR requirement, but must provide advanced certification documentation with the credentialing packet. Visit the for more information. Planning your independent RNFA Internship Lakeland Community College does not establish clinical agreements with remote facilities where periodic supervision visits are not feasible. RNFA Interns are participating in a self-paced, self-designed independent internship not a clinical rotation Clinical agreements are only practical when faculty from the Perioperative Education division can monitor, supervise, and evaluate participant progress. Lakeland Community College and its faculty cannot assume liability for participant activities outside its range of supervision and control. Is available that can be used by the RNFA intern to set up the internship permission with the facility via the medical staaff office.
This form is an MS Word document and can be modified to suit the needs of the intern and the facility. It is a sample only. Lakeland does not retain copies of internship agreements.
Clinical rotations are established under Clinical Agreements between Lakeland Community College and the facility. Clinical Rotations involve direct supervision of students by Lakeland Community College faculty and take place during succinct time parameters associated with semester grading periods. Students in Clinical Rotations have no specific credentials or licensure requirements and are not independent of clinical supervision. Faculty and students have specific liability coverage during college hours of operation. RNFA internships are not considered clinical rotations. Independent internships differ from clinical rotations because Independent Internships are arranged by a qualified registered nurse participant in agreement with his or her home facility under the mentorship of a surgeon without the intervention of Lakeland Community College.
The qualified registered nurse participant is licensed in his or her state or province of practice, is certified in CPR (ACLS preferred), is certified in perioperative nursing or advanced practice (or certification eligible), and is required to carry individual professional liability insurance during the entire internship process. Buku Pengantar Filsafat Ilmu Pdf To Jpg. The RNFA intern establishes a series of three learning contracts with a mentor-surgeon, who helps establish learning objectives and evaluates attainment of knowledge and skill. The surgeon signs the agreement before the RNFA intern submits the document for the record. This two-part document is distributed during the RNFA didactic component. This is how the learning agreement works: • Before each 40-hour segment begins, learning objectives are established between a surgeon and the intern.
• Each RNFA intern will write two detailed case studies during the internship period. The case studies are detailed and expected to be worthy of a high score. • The attainment of the learning objectives is measured at the completion of each 40-hour segment by the surgeon and the intern on the first page. The surgeon evaluates the intern on a scale of 1 to 5 on the second page and signs the form.
• Three learning contracts are completed by the intern and surgeon over a period of 120-hours in 40-hour increments. One learning contract and case log are submitted to the Perioperative Education Department after each 40-hour increment is completed. Please do not send all 120-hour materials at once. This causes a delay and backlog for departmental review. • Documentation of the internship learning contract and log is retained by the participant and a copy sent to the Perioperative Education Department at Lakeland Community College. Please do not send the originals. Document retention of logs and case studies is two years.
All materials are sent in hard copy by postal mail. Do not send electronic copies. Credentialing materials are retained indefinitely in the director's office. • A certificate of completion is awarded by the Perioperative Education Department at Lakeland Community College upon fulfillment of all requirements, including passage of CNOR and internship hours. Exit Requirements Completion of the RNFA Course Requirements includes the following steps (please do not send any documentation electronically via email): • Completed Credentialing Packet including nursing licensure information, certification, and proof of liability insurance • CNOR or Canadian Perioperative Certification documentation • Advanced Practice Nurses are exempt from CNOR, but must produce Advanced Practice Certification Documentation • Three sets of 40-Hour RNFA logs with three completed Learning Contracts and Surgeon Mentor Evaluations. It is permissible to scrub with surgeons other than primary mentor.
Surgeon must sign logs and contracts. Send each 40-hour log separately to facilitate the review process.
Sending 120-hrs all at once will cause a delay. Very time intensive. • Two detailed case studies. Do not email or fax these materials. All completed RNFA materials are sent by postal mail to the. Sending required materials to other areas in the college or faxing will cause significant delays in getting the Certificate of Completion and Posting of the Final Grade online. At the completion of the didactic component, the grade is reflected as 'I' (incomplete) until all requirements are met. Download Chasing Pavements Karaoke With Lyrics.
Documentation of attendance is often needed for tax purposes and Tuition Reimbursement. A letter of didactic completion is provided in the folder during the lecture component. The Certificate of Completion is issued only after all requirements from course exit are met.
The Perioperative Departmental staff are not on campus July 1 - September 1; and December 1 - February 1 for college breaks. Log reviews and certificate production are slower at that time.