Operating Room Registered Nurse

In a sole community hospital, the operating room is where planned and emergency surgery meet people who have no closer option. As an OR RN, you keep every case safe, coordinated, and ready—from verification through recovery handoff. Your judgment protects patients when minutes matter and backup is in the room, not down the road.

Performance Objectives

• Circulate and scrub assigned cases so each procedure starts with a verified patient, consent, site, and complete instrument set.
• Protect the sterile field and enforce aseptic practice, holding surgical-site infection events to zero on your cases.
• Anticipate surgeon and anesthesia needs so avoidable delays drop and room turnover meets team targets.
• Complete instrument, sponge, and sharps counts, plus specimen reconciliation, before closure and before the patient leaves the room.
• Recognize hemorrhage, airway compromise, and malignant hyperthermia and act on protocol until the patient is stable.
• Chart the perioperative record in real time so coding, quality review, and handoff need no rework.
• Coach newer nurses and surgical technologists so preference cards, setups, and safety checks stay consistent across shifts.

Environment and Resources

You will practice with surgeons, anesthesia providers, surgical technologists, and sterile processing in a nonprofit community acute-care hospital. The case mix includes general, orthopedic, obstetric, and emergency surgery. You report to the OR nurse leader and use preference cards, standard sets, on-call coverage, and hospital policies for counts, implants, and emergencies.

Essential Qualifications

• Active RN license in New Mexico or compact license; current BLS; ACLS preferred.
• BSN preferred.
• 1 year of experience in the related specialty preferred; perioperative orientation or equivalent experience circulating and scrubbing.
• Proven sterile technique, surgical counts, and specimen management.
• Ability to stand through long cases, help position and transfer patients, and take emergency call.
• Clear communication with surgeons, anesthesia, and families under time pressure.

Why This Role

• A broad case mix where your work is visible to the community you serve.
• A nonprofit mission centered on access, not volume for its own sake.
• A close perioperative team with direct access to nursing leadership.
• Room to grow across circulating, scrubbing, and emergency response.

Compensation: $33.75–$52.74/hr based on experience (capped at 15 years). Sign-on bonus: $20,000 for 1–10 years’ experience, $30,000 for 10+ years — half at 90 days, half at 2 years, 2-year commitment. Relocation assistance for candidates over 100 miles away: $3,500 at 100+ miles, $5,000 at 500+ miles, paid at 30 days, 1-year commitment. Degree pay: BSN +$1.00/hr, MSN +$2.00/hr. Night shift differential +$3.25/hr for hours worked between 7p–7a. Weekend differential 10% of base pay. Float Pool incentive +20% of base pay.

Apply

If you want your skill to decide how safely surgery happens for a community that depends on it, apply today. Tell us about a case you made safer and what you will own in your first 90 days.