Ambulatory Surgery Nurse (Same Day Surgery RN, Pre-Op/PACU/OR)
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- Same-day surgery nurse preparing patients, circulating during procedures, or providing postanesthesia recovery care and discharge teaching
Position directory
Perioperative & Procedural Nursing: positions we recruit
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hiring across perioperative and procedural nursing starts with separating operating room, recovery, and procedure-room experience before you compare candidates.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Positions we recruit
Perioperative & Procedural Nursing
13 positions
13 matching positions
Cath Lab Nurse (Cardiac Cath Lab RN, Cardiovascular Lab RN)
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- Cardiac catheterization nurse preparing patients, monitoring sedation, recording case events, protecting sterile fields, and reporting changes
CVOR Nurse (Cardiovascular OR RN, Heart Team RN)
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- Cardiovascular operating room nurse providing assigned intraoperative nursing care during open-heart, valve, and TAVR procedures
Electrophysiology Lab Nurse (EP Lab RN)
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- Electrophysiology nurse providing preparation, procedural care, documentation, and recovery for ablations, device implants, studies, or cardioversions
Endoscopy Nurse (GI Lab RN)
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- GI lab registered nurse preparing patients, confirming procedures, monitoring assigned sedation or recovery, and coordinating room turnover
Interventional Radiology Nurse (IR RN, Special Procedures RN)
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- Interventional radiology nurse reviewing preprocedure assessments, monitoring patients during image-guided procedures, and providing assigned recovery care
Operating Room Nurse (OR RN, Circulating Nurse, Periop RN)
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- Circulating registered nurse coordinating surgical equipment, patient positioning, implants, and case timing across assigned operating room services
OR Charge Nurse
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- Operating room shift nurse assigning staff, adjusting surgical schedules, and coordinating surgeons, anesthesia, sterile processing, and recovery
PACU Charge Nurse
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- Postanesthesia recovery shift nurse directing patient assignments, coordinating overlapping arrivals, and matching nursing experience to recovery needs
PACU Nurse (Post-Anesthesia Care, Recovery Room RN)
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- Postanesthesia registered nurse receiving surgical handoffs, assessing emergence and clinical changes, and preparing transfer or discharge
Per Diem Operating Room Nurse
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- Operating room nurse in a per diem pool performing circulating or scrub duties and documenting surgical care
Pre-Op Nurse (Pre-Admission Testing RN)
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- Registered nurse assessing patients before surgery, reviewing medication histories, and checking consent and procedure documentation
Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA)
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- Registered nurse assisting surgeons with exposure, retraction, tissue handling, hemostasis, and suturing within authorized scope
Start with the work
What should you settle before you hire?
A nurse who circulates surgical cases may not have recent recovery experience. A recovery nurse may not know your endoscopy room routines. We recruit for permanent positions across this family, matching each search to the work you need covered. Use this index to distinguish roles before selecting a title for your opening.
Start with the patient's path through your service. Preoperative nurses review readiness, reconcile information, and escalate missing documentation. Operating room circulators coordinate nursing care during cases, document events, and manage counts with the surgical team. Scrub assignments involve instruments and the sterile field. Do not treat circulating and scrubbing as interchangeable experience.
Recovery positions differ from procedure-room positions. PACU nurses receive anesthesia handoffs, monitor recovery, and assess readiness for the next care setting. Ask which procedures a candidate supported, what their assignment involved, and where another clinician took over.
Ask for evidence
What should you check before an offer?
Verify the nursing license needed for the assignment. Ask, “Which licenses and current certifications do you hold?” Compare those records with your position's stated qualifications. Separate legally necessary credentials from certificates your facility prefers. Ask, “Which cases did you circulate, and which did you scrub?”
- A useful answer identifies recent case types, assignment boundaries, count responsibilities, and who handled unfamiliar equipment. A specialty label alone does not establish readiness.
- For preoperative work, ask, “What did you do when the record was incomplete before a scheduled case?” Look for clear verification steps, communication with the appropriate team, and an explanation of what the nurse could resolve.
- For recovery work, ask, “Describe the handoff you received and the information you needed before accepting care.” Useful answers distinguish immediate recovery from later discharge preparation and explain escalation without overstating independent authority.
- For procedural roles, ask, “What was your nursing assignment during a typical procedure?” Listen for preparation, monitoring, documentation, specimen handling where applicable, and handoff duties. Clarify any sedation-related responsibilities against your facility's practice rules.
- Ask, “How were call, late-running cases, and cross-coverage assigned?” The answer should describe actual scheduling experience and training for additional areas. Willingness to cross-cover does not replace evidence of relevant practice.
Different backgrounds, different fit
Where does relevant experience come from?
We look across hospital surgical services, ambulatory surgery centers, endoscopy services, and hospital-based procedural departments. The source pool depends on the position. For a recovery opening, recent recovery assignments matter more than a general claim of perioperative experience. For an operating room opening, case mix and assigned duties guide the search.
A nurse may consider moving for a different call pattern, a narrower specialty focus, or a more predictable schedule. Others may seek broader case exposure. We ask what the move would change and compare that answer with your actual schedule. A hospital-to-surgery-center move needs discussion of staffing, discharge routines, and available support.
Avoid these
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid listing one broad perioperative opening when you need separate circulating and recovery coverage. Define each assignment before interviewing, including whether cross-training is available. Avoid accepting procedure names without asking what the nurse did. Observing a case, monitoring during it, and managing recovery afterward represent different experience.
Avoid leaving call expectations until the offer. Describe callback duties, weekend work, late finishes, and orientation arrangements early enough for an informed decision.
Put it to work
What are the next steps?
Tell us which service has the vacancy, your common cases, patient population, shift pattern, and call duties. We screen credentials, work history, and fit through questions about actual assignments. Review candidates against the same assignment description. Identify whether the nurse will work in one area or rotate.
Define the assignment
Explain who provides orientation and how you assess readiness for independent assignments.
Screen relevant experience
We distinguish recent hands-on work from older exposure or observation. You complete your own credentialing and clinical assessment, including any facility-specific validation needed before assigning patient care.
Compare and select
Use interviews to resolve gaps in case experience, handoffs, and scheduling. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Does endoscopy experience qualify someone for another procedural service?
Endoscopy experience does not establish readiness for catheterization or interventional radiology assignments. Compare equipment, patient monitoring, case routines, and handoff responsibilities before deciding what additional training would be needed. Endoscopy, catheterization, interventional radiology, and other procedural nurses work within distinct case routines.
Can one opening combine preoperative and recovery duties?
Yes, if your staffing model combines them. Describe both assignments and assess recent experience in each rather than assuming one transfers automatically.
Should we request both circulating and scrub experience?
Only when both belong to the job. State whether scrubbing is expected from the start or taught during orientation.
How should we describe a PACU opening with discharge duties?
Specify which recovery phases the nurse covers. Include discharge teaching and transfer duties so candidates understand the full assignment.
Can we recruit into our own per diem procedural pool?
Yes, per diem recruitment means placement into your pool, not filling individual shifts. Define orientation, availability expectations, and the services each nurse may cover.
How can Healthcare Headhunters help with this hire?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Tell us where your patient flow needs a nurse and what that nurse will do. We can help you select the right position and build a focused search.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Keep the hiring brief connected
Perioperative & Procedural Nursing hub
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