Per Diem Operating Room Nurse Recruiters
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 a per diem operating room nurse means finding someone whose case experience and availability match your own surgical schedule.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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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.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
We recruit nurses for placement into your own per diem pool, not for individual shifts. Before searching, we ask which services need support, whether the nurse will circulate or scrub, and how you schedule orientation. A nurse who knows orthopedic cases may still need substantial preparation for unfamiliar equipment, documentation, or another surgical service.
Will assignments involve scheduled outpatient cases, inpatient surgery, evening relief, or call? Define whether shifts follow a predictable calendar or arrive with short notice. Availability must match those expectations, including the orientation period, rather than simply appear flexible on a resume.
Ask candidates to describe their responsibilities during room preparation, patient verification, counts, specimen handling, and handoffs. Your facility completes credentialing and clinical assessment; we screen credentials, work history, availability, and fit through questions about actual operating room work.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
RN license: What is the nurse's current license status, and does it support practice where your facility operates? We review the stated credentials and ask about restrictions or pending issues. Your team verifies licensure before approving practice. Recent case mix: Which procedures have you circulated recently, and what did you handle before incision and during closing?
- Useful answers name services, equipment familiarity, documentation responsibilities, and areas needing orientation, rather than broad claims about surgical experience.
- Counts and specimens: If a count discrepancy occurs near closing, what actions do you take within facility policy? Ask separately how the nurse labels and transfers specimens. Look for clear communication, documentation, and escalation without guessing or bypassing checks.
- Room changes: If the planned procedure changes after room setup, how do you confirm the revised supplies and equipment? Strong answers explain communication with the surgical team and checks against local procedures, without assuming every facility stocks identical products.
- Relief handoffs: What information do you give the incoming circulator during a case? Ask about counts, specimens, implants, medications on the sterile field, documentation, and unresolved concerns. The answer should distinguish completed work from tasks still needing attention.
- Pool commitment: Which shifts can you consistently accept, and what other commitments limit those dates? Ask whether the nurse can attend orientation and required competency reviews. An open calendar next week does not establish an ongoing match.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We look at hospital operating rooms, ambulatory surgery centers, and surgical hospitals for nurses with relevant case experience. The right background depends on your procedures and assignment boundaries. An outpatient nurse may know rapid room turnover well but have limited exposure to inpatient add-on cases or overnight call.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is treating all operating room experience as interchangeable. Name the services and equipment the nurse must know, then identify what your orientation can teach. Another is leaving shift expectations vague. Explain weekend work, call participation, cancellation practices, and minimum availability before presenting the role, so both sides can judge the commitment.
Counting a preferred certificate as proof of readiness. If you prefer CNOR certification, say so, but still assess recent circulating or scrub work and confirm the nurse's license.
How would we run the search for this opening?
We review case mix, circulating and scrub duties, shift patterns, call expectations, and orientation dates with you. We ask about recent procedures, room preparation, handoffs, and scheduling limits. Compare shortlisted nurses by their recent surgical service experience, circulating or scrub experience, and availability for your open shifts.
Define the pool assignment
We also clarify who assigns cases and assesses competency. This gives candidates a concrete picture of the work they may accept.
Screen against the work
You receive candidates whose experience can be compared with your assignment, including gaps that deserve discussion. Your clinical leaders then interview and assess the proposed scope.
Complete the hiring decision
Have your clinical leaders identify which assignments each candidate could accept after orientation and which need further assessment. You complete credentialing, references, and clinical approval through your process. Before an offer, confirm orientation attendance and pool participation terms. We keep unresolved scheduling or assignment questions visible so the offer reflects what both sides have discussed.
Where this search connects
National median annual wage. SOC 29-1141, Registered Nurses.
BLS reports Registered Nurses as one occupation. It does not publish a separate wage for Per Diem Operating Room Nurse, this seniority level or these engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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Can one per diem nurse cover both circulating and scrub assignments?
Possibly, but assess each function separately. Ask for recent examples of both duties and let your clinical team approve the assignment boundaries. Separate circulating experience from scrub experience. Start with the work you expect this nurse to accept. Listen for their own actions, not only what the team did.
How much orientation should an experienced OR nurse receive?
Base orientation on the nurse's case experience and your equipment, records, and policies. Agree on supervised assessment before assigning independent work.
Should our per diem pool include call?
State call expectations before interviews. Ask about response expectations, competing commitments, and familiarity with the procedures likely during those assignments.
How do we assess an ambulatory surgery nurse for hospital OR work?
Compare actual procedures and duties, not setting labels. Discuss add-on cases, handoffs, and assignment gaps your team would need to assess.
What availability should we confirm before making an offer?
Confirm orientation dates, recurring availability, and any minimum participation rules you apply. Ask how the nurse handles schedule conflicts with another employer.
What should you send us about this role?
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 which surgical services and shifts your per diem pool needs to support. We will screen for recent experience with those procedures, circulating or scrub duties, and availability for orientation and recurring assignments.
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.
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.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
PACU Charge Nurse · Operating Room Nurse (OR RN, Circulating Nurse, Periop RN)
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
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. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.