This position may be eligible for a $15,000 sign-on bonus, tuition loan repayment and relocation assistance.

Under the clinical supervision of the cardiovascular physician and direct supervision of the Director Cardiac Services, the First Heart Scrub provides cardiovascular surgical assistance, assistance with clinical projects, staff education, and other cardiovascular surgery departmental functions.
Essential Job Functions
• Provides surgical scrub assistance for all cardiovascular/thoracic operations, including open, minimally invasive, and transcatheter/endovascular techniques.
• Assists cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons by ensuring the proper maintenance, functioning and sterility of all instruments, supplies, and equipment necessary for successful operations. Assists in troubleshooting equipment malfunction, as indicated
• Sets up and maintains a sterile field, including surgical draping of the patient.
• Ensures safe patient transport to and from the operating room table.
• Ensures optimal patient positioning to minimize the risk of pressure injuries.
• Ensures all operating room participants appropriately don and doff operative room attire and personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Involved in patient safety checklist procedures to ensure correct site surgery.
• Performs instrument, sharps and sponge counts before, during (as indicated) and after operations, ensuring that counts remain correct, minimizing the risks of retained foreign bodies.
• Assists perfusionists in the preparation and takedown of the cardiopulmonary bypass machine and circuitry.
• Serves as a liaison for communication between surgeons and staff working in the surgery rooms.
• Assists with the perioperative care and transport of patients to and from the OR
• Assists with staff education in the surgery rooms.
• Maintains and shares current knowledge of cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon’s needs and techniques with all staff members.
• Assists in optimizing visualization within the operative field by using retractors or surgical cameras, as directed by the surgeon.
• Performs sterile dressing application and/or placement of immobilization devices, as needed.
• Anticipates the need of additional surgical supplies and communicates efficiently with circulating nursing staff.
• Assists in preparing operating room turnover to ensure expedited patient care
• Maintains complete instrument sets and effectively communicates the need for new instruments or repairs, as indicated.
• Participates in on-call shifts for all cardiovascular/thoracic procedural needs, which require immediate (within 30 minutes) availability, 24 hours per day/365 days per year. On call rotations are assigned and split between the team according to current staffing and FTE
• Assists in the equipment set up for both bedside and intraoperative ECMO cannulations.
• Assists and participates in cardiovascular department research projects.
• Utilizes performance improvement principles to assess and improve quality.
• Participates in routine case debriefings and quality improvement processes to ensure optimal patient care.
• Assists with formal process improvement strategies and quality assurance projects within the Operating Room and the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery.
• Identifies needs and sets goals for own growth and development.
• Acquires knowledge and skills essential to incorporating into practice proven new evaluation/treatment modalities.
• Participates in continuing education offerings to maintain knowledge/skills on cardiovascular procedures.
• Communicates regularly with other staff regarding changes in the workflow schedule or physician protocol.

• Expected to take weekday, weekend, and holiday on-call shifts.
• May be required to work varying shift durations depending on surgical caseload/acuity.
• Must be immediately available within a 30-minute response time while on call
• Exhibits a strong understanding of cardiovascular and thoracic anatomy.