PACU RN
Renton, Washington
Valley Medical Center

PACU/Pre-Op Phase II RN

Location: Renton, Washington (south of Seattle) Contract Length: 13 weeks Shift: Days, 4x10s (10 hours/day, 40 hours/week)

Required Qualifications

• ACLS, PALS, and BLS certifications
• Experience or "must have" skills: PACU Phase I/II, sometimes preop
• Travelers with license hits involving diverting medications or endangerment will not be accepted. Do not submit a candidate if you are aware of such a hit, as it will result in immediate contract cancellation.

Preferred Qualifications

• EMR experience with EPIC (software familiarity, strongly preferred)
• Experience extubating patients (preferred skill, not required; the unit educator will train the traveler on extubation in PACU if needed)

Unit and Patient Profile

• Beds: 26 Phase I PACU beds and 31 Admit/Phase II beds split between 2 floors. The 2nd floor does not run the full PACU, as Endo occupies some of that space.
• Phase II: Combined with preop. Phase I may also perform some Phase II discharges in evenings and weekends, and PACU must be able to perform Phase II discharge if needed. Preop experience is not required unless otherwise indicated.
• Ratios: 1:2 in Phase I; up to 1:3 in Phase II is typical. The unit follows ASPAN guidelines.
• Volume: 30-65 cases per day, with 20% add-ons.
• Common cases: General surgery, ortho, urology, gyn, gyn/onc, vascular, neuro, orthopedic, spine, ENT, eye, plastics, and more.
• Pediatrics: Small pediatric population, mainly ENT and some ortho and other lower-acuity cases. High-acuity pediatric cases go to a children's hospital.
• ICU patients: Rarely recover in PACU, possible for bed holds or when the ICU is full.
• Respiratory equipment: Ventilators, CPAP, BiPAP, etc. as needed, low volume.

Staffing and Support

• Charge/Supervision: Charge nurse (CN) for the unit, plus a house supervisor for bed control outside of periop. One charge covers admit/discharge and one covers PACU.
• Nursing aides: SST's
• Strips: RNs read strips.
• Floating: Within clinical grouping based on skill set.
• Scrubs: Provided.
• Orientation: Maximum of 2-3 shifts if orienting to PACU only; potentially more if orienting to both PACU and preop.

Schedule and Call

• Hours: PACU is open 0700-2330, Monday through Friday. Call shifts occur outside those hours. Preop opens earlier.
• Shift lengths: 8, 10, or 12 hours. The contract will specify length where possible, and it may be a combination. The manager handles scheduling.
• Call: Not typically required for agency staff, including weeknight, weekend, holiday, and mandatory standby. Call response time is 30 minutes if required.