Hospital - PACU RN III (Full Time, Days)

UT Health San Antonio; San Antonio (TX); Presencial; USD 85.000 - 100.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

UT Health San Antonio is seeking an RN III in PACU to provide expert post-anesthesia care, mentor staff, and lead recovery room initiatives. The role supports complex patient recovery, serves as a clinical resource, and drives evidence-based practices across the PACU.

You will lead unit governance activities, serve as charge nurse as needed, and coordinate education with management, contributing to department-wide safety and performance goals.

Formación

• Two (2) year's of nursing experience in a healthcare environment required.
• Experience in ICU, ER, PACU or critical care preferred.

Responsabilidades

• Provides expert-level post-anesthesia care to patients recovering from sedation or general anesthesia.
• Serves as a shift resource for complex clinical interventions including ventilator care, airway management, and EKG monitoring.
• Mentors PACU nurses in patient recovery scoring, pain management, and sedation-related complication response.
• Leads orientation, skills training, and clinical development programs for new staff, travel nurses, or float pool nurses.
• Monitors recovery trends and collaborates with anesthesia and the inpatient care team to optimize discharge or transfer planning.
• Serves as an expert consultant during rapid response events, CERT activations, or emergency codes within PACU.
• Supports team situational awareness through real-time coaching, education, and team debriefs post-critical events.
• Leads quality improvement initiatives related to PACU-specific indicators, such as unplanned admissions or delayed recoveries.
• Develops and delivers in-service training or clinical huddles on recovery best practices and safety interventions.
• Participates in documentation audits and supports EMR optimization efforts across recovery workflows.
• Acts as a liaison for interdisciplinary rounding and patient throughput coordination.
• Assists in policy reviews and standard updates aligned with anesthesia recovery best practices.
• Collaborates with Nurse Manager on peer evaluations, performance coaching, and identifying skill gaps.
• Provides support to families and patients during recovery transitions, reinforcing discharge education and expectations.
• Supports PACU readiness through supply checks, equipment troubleshooting, and process refinement.
• Represents PACU interests on hospital-wide nursing councils, research pilots, or shared governance initiatives.
• Functions as relief charge nurse and supports workload adjustments based on acuity and census.
• Performs other job-related duties to promote safety, efficiency, and excellence in post-anesthesia care.

Conocimientos

Two years nursing experience

ICU/ER/PACU experience

Nursing leadership

Educación

Bachelor's of Science in Nursing

Descripción del empleo

Job Description

The RN III, PACU functions at a proficient level and provides expert post-anesthesia nursing care. This nurse mentors staff, leads recovery room initiatives, and contributes to department-wide performance and safety goals. The RN III supports recovery of complex patients, serves as a clinical resource, and drives evidence-based practices that enhance outcomes in the post-anesthesia environment at UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty & Research Hospital. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, leading unit and shared governance activities, serving as charge nurse as needed, assessing the unit's needs related to practice and improvement opportunities, serving as a clinical resource for both unit and hospital staff, and coordinating unit and hospital-wide education in partnership with management.

The RN III, PACU functions at a proficient level and provides expert post-anesthesia nursing care. This nurse mentors staff, leads recovery room initiatives, and contributes to department-wide performance and safety goals. The RN III supports recovery of complex patients, serves as a clinical resource, and drives evidence-based practices that enhance outcomes in the post-anesthesia environment at UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty & Research Hospital. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, leading unit and shared governance activities, serving as charge nurse as needed, assessing the unit's needs related to practice and improvement opportunities, serving as a clinical resource for both unit and hospital staff, and coordinating unit and hospital-wide education in partnership with management.

Responsibilities

• Provides expert-level post-anesthesia care to patients recovering from sedation or general anesthesia.


• Serves as a shift resource for complex clinical interventions including ventilator care, airway management, and EKG monitoring.


• Mentors PACU nurses in patient recovery scoring, pain management, and sedation-related complication response.


• Leads orientation, skills training, and clinical development programs for new staff, travel nurses, or float pool nurses.


• Monitors recovery trends and collaborates with anesthesia and the inpatient care team to optimize discharge or transfer planning.


• Serves as an expert consultant during rapid response events, CERT activations, or emergency codes within PACU.


• Supports team situational awareness through real-time coaching, education, and team debriefs post-critical events.


• Leads quality improvement initiatives related to PACU-specific indicators, such as unplanned admissions or delayed recoveries.


• Develops and delivers in-service training or clinical huddles on recovery best practices and safety interventions.


• Participates in documentation audits and supports EMR optimization efforts across recovery workflows.


• Acts as a liaison for interdisciplinary rounding and patient throughput coordination.


• Assists in policy reviews and standard updates aligned with anesthesia recovery best practices.


• Collaborates with Nurse Manager on peer evaluations, performance coaching, and identifying skill gaps.


• Provides support to families and patients during recovery transitions, reinforcing discharge education and expectations.


• Supports PACU readiness through supply checks, equipment troubleshooting, and process refinement.


• Represents PACU interests on hospital-wide nursing councils, research pilots, or shared governance initiatives.


• Functions as relief charge nurse and supports workload adjustments based on acuity and census.


• Performs other job-related duties to promote safety, efficiency, and excellence in post-anesthesia care.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's of Science in Nursing required

Certification/Licensure

• Current Texas Board of Nursing (or Compact State) RN license; Or a Temporary Texas RN License (Permanent TX license within 90 days upon hire).


• American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, within 7 days of hire.

Required Skills

Two (2) year's of nursing experience in a healthcare environment required. Experience in ICU, ER, PACU or critical care preferred.

About Us

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) is a nationally recognized, top-tier public research university that unites the power of higher education, biomedical discovery and healthcare within one visionary institution. As the third-largest research university in Texas and a Carnegie R1-designated institution, UT San Antonio is a model of access and excellence — advancing knowledge, social mobility and public health across South Texas and beyond. UT San Antonio serves approximately 42,000 students in 320 academic programs spanning science, engineering, medicine, health, liberal arts, AI, cybersecurity, business, education and more. With 17,000 faculty and staff, UT San Antonio has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers for Company Culture.

Benefits Overview

UT Health San Antonio offers an excellent benefits package for its employees. Employees who work at least 20 hours a week, with an appointment of at least 4.5 months, are eligible for benefits.

Medical - UT SELECT Medical insurance is offered free for employees and administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. Family members can be added to the plan through payroll deduction. Employees and their dependents can also receive discounted copays and coinsurance when using UT Health Physicians, a network of 800 premier physicians including more than 100 specialists. Employees receive $50,000 of group term life insurance and $50,000 of basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance for free, with options to purchase additional employee and dependent coverage for both at group rates.

Dental - Three dental insurance plan options are available for employees and their families through Delta Dental Insurance Company, two PPOs and one dental HMO plan. Both PPO plans allow employees to choose any licensed dentist.

Vision - Fully insured Vision Care benefits are offered by Superior Vision Services. Two vision plan options that offer either standard or enhanced vision benefits.

Disability - Employees can enroll in the Disability Insurance which provides income if a non-work related illness or injury prevents you from working.

FSAs - Employees can enroll in flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to set aside money from earnings before taxes for qualifying dependent day care expenses or out-of-pocket health care expenses.

Retirement - Employees are eligible for either the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP). TRS is a defined benefit retirement plan which UT Health matches employee contributions. ORP is for eligible faculty staff employees. Voluntary retirement programs are also available to invest before- or after-tax dollars with the choice of five quality retirement plan providers.

Time Off

• Front-loaded Paid Time Off: 128 to 208 hours (16 to 26 days) of Paid Time Off based on years of service, given at the start of each fiscal year. PTO may be prorated in year one based on date of hire.


• Extended Illness Bank: 8 hours (1 day) accrued per month which can be used for illness or injury after one day of Paid Time Off is taken.


• Paid Family Leave: Up to 240 hours (6 weeks) to care for a spouse, child, or parent after 6 months of consecutive employment.


• Holidays: 12 set paid holidays each year.

Discounts - Employees enjoy a range of discounts on services, tickets, and gym membership.

EEO Statement

UT Health San Antonio is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. It is our policy to promote and ensure equal employment opportunity for all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.