Registered Nurse - Operating Room (Intermittent)

Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks; Fayetteville (AR); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off (PTO) 50 days/year

Federal retirement plan ( pension )

Health/vision/dental insurance

Job summary

The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville, AR seeks a skilled perioperative nurse to provide and supervise patient care across the surgical, endoscopy, and ambulatory settings.

You will assess, plan, implement, and evaluate care, educate patients, coordinate across disciplines, and participate in quality improvement and on-call coverage. Candidates must hold an active RN license and be able to work a Monday–Friday schedule.

Qualifications

• Active RN license in the US.
• Experience in perioperative or endoscopy settings is preferred.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Deliver comprehensive nursing care across surgical, endoscopy, and ambulatory settings.
• Plan, direct, and coordinate care for complex perioperative patients.
• Assess and document patient status before, during, and after procedures.
• Educate patients and families about procedures, aftercare, and self-management.
• Lead and participate in interdisciplinary care planning and quality improvement.
• Maintain endoscopy equipment and uphold sterility and safety standards.

Skills

Perioperative care

Endoscopy care

Team leadership

Patient education

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Education

RN license (US)

Job description

Summary

The Nurse is responsible and accountable for all aspects of the nursing process when delivering and supervising direct patient care. This role involves assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating patient care based on age‑specific needs, ensuring a holistic approach to patient management. The nurse assumes responsibility for coordinating care efforts that emphasize patient education, self‑management, and customer satisfaction across the entire continuum of care.

Major Duties

The Nurse is responsible and accountable for delivering comprehensive, evidence‑based nursing care across surgical, invasive, and non‑invasive procedures, ensuring optimal patient outcomes. This role involves independently planning, directing, and coordinating care for complex patients within the perioperative setting, including the operating room, ambulatory, surgery, and endoscopy units as needed. The nurse oversees the entire nursing process – assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation – while respecting individual patient needs and recognizing the vital contributions of interdisciplinary team members. Other duties included but not limited to the following:

• Maintains proficiency in both circulating and scrubbing roles across all surgical specialties and adheres to current standards from the Association of peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) directives, and institutional SOPs.
• Applies clinical knowledge/judgment to lead staff involvement in planning, decision making, and evaluating outcomes within the immediate practice setting.
• Demonstrates the ability to improve the effectiveness of communications and interactions with others, to inspire their cooperation and confidence to ensure safe and effective outcomes in the current practice setting.
• Ensure the sterility of the surgical field, manage instrumentation and equipment safely, and perform accurate counting procedures to prevent retained surgical items.
• Actively participates in the Time Out process to verify correct site, side, and level and follows strict documentation protocols for implants, tissue products, and specimens.
• Delivers high‑quality care for patients undergoing therapeutic and diagnostic endoscopy procedures, including both inpatients and outpatients.
• Assess physical and mental status pre‑procedure, provide patient education on procedural and post‑procedural care, and document responses and findings comprehensively.
• Collaborates with patients, families, and interdisciplinary teams to facilitate smooth transitions of care that align with the patient’s goals and promote safety.
• Demonstrates leadership by fostering a safe, supportive environment that encourages professional development among colleagues.
• Provide informal feedback, share educational findings, and question clinical practices to ensure care remains evidence based.
• Participates actively in quality improvement initiatives, strategies to sustain evidence‑based practice, and team discussions aimed at improving holistic care.
• Proficiency in maintaining, cleaning, and preparing endoscopy‑specific equipment is essential.
• Recognizes changes in patient conditions and initiates appropriate emergency responses when necessary.
• Improves Veteran/patient driven care by resolving experience issues such as coordination of care, timeliness or process issues, common themes of dissatisfaction, or environment of care concerns for the immediate practice setting.
• Flexibility to adapt to schedule changes and to respond promptly during assigned on‑call periods is required, with adherence to all facility policies regarding response times.
• Exemplifies clinical excellence, leadership, and collaboration to deliver safe, effective, and patient‑centered care across all perioperative and endoscopic services.
• Consistently communicates and treats customers (patients, visitors, volunteers, and all Medical Center staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package:

• VA Nurse Total Rewards Pay: Competitive salary, regular salary increases, potential for performance awards
• Paid Time Off: 50 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
• Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long‑term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
• Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm (intermittent), excludes holidays and weekend, subject to change based on the needs of the facility.
• Telework: Unavailable
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship; non‑citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre‑employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state‑issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre‑employment physical evaluation. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). You may be required to serve a probationary period. Complete all application requirements detailed in the “Required Documents” section of this announcement.

Evaluations

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment. NOTE: Candidate's education, scope, and length of nursing practice (experience) will be considered in determining the grade and salary of the applicant selected. The recommended salary may be at any point in the range listed for this vacancy. Experience as an RN will be evaluated to determine if the experience is of an acceptable level of quality with regard to the following five dimensions of nursing: Practice, Veteran/Patient Driven Care, Leadership, Professional Development, and Evidence/Based Practice/Research. Each dimension of practice has criteria that demonstrate essential core competencies for VHA Nursing Personnel. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre‑employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

• 1st Area of Consideration: Current permanent VA employees of the Veterans Health Care Systems of the Ozarks including satellites
• 2nd Area of Consideration: All other VA employees
• 3rd Area of Consideration: All other applicants

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career‑search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes: Resume Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one‑page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two‑page restricted ‘Resume’ document upload field. Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the ‘Other’ document upload field.

Resume Requirement: Your resume must include the following information: Job title, description of duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment, average hours worked per week, name of Institution to include degree conferred date, and License State / Expiration Date.

Part‑Time Experience: Part‑time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full‑time workweek. For example, if you are employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one full‑time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

• SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Eligibility): The following documents are accepted and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position.
• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• CV/Resume
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action Transcript
• SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Eligibility): Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee. Examples of appropriate SF-50's include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans' Preference Note: Preference eligible candidates and other Veterans will be given preference when qualification of candidates are approximately equal for Title 38 positions in VHA. When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 “Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference” with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

Other Information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health‑related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.