Colleague's email address:
Your email address:
Subject:	A colleague recommends What's It Like For Medical/Surgical/Ortho RNs?
Message:

John Muir Health is a not-for-profit organization that provides comprehensive health care to Contra Costa County and the greater Bay Area. John Muir Medical Center in Concord, a 259-bed acute care facility, is a preeminent center for cancer and cardiac care, including open-heart surgery and interventional cardiology. The 324-bed acute care facility in Walnut Creek is the only designated Level II Trauma Center in the area, and is renowned for high- and low-risk obstetrics, orthopedics, neuroscience, cardiac and cancer care.

The pace is exciting and varied with a diverse patient population, and close collaboration with the Physicians and clinical support staff. Med/Surg RNs can gain a wealth of experience thanks to our comprehensive range of services and programs for the community, including: cardiovascular, oncology, neurosciences, orthopedic, acute rehabilitation, general medical/surgery and endocrine/renal programs. If you would like to use your unique knowledge and skills in an environment that fosters collaboration and respect, consider joining our staff in one of our Med/Surg or internal Float Pool departments.

Psychiatric Liaison

Debra Addis, RN, LCSW performs a unique role for both the Concord and Walnut Creek campuses, by providing consultative services in regard to patients with psychiatric backgrounds or diagnoses that might be admitted for Medical/Surgical procedures.

Her position offers on-site support, education and treatment planning for team members, especially those who are not used to dealing with psychiatric diagnoses. She is specially qualified for this role as a teacher of nursing, psychiatry and chemical dependency, drawing on a wealth of experience in the hospice setting that includes end of life and palliative care. Her role includes developing the treatment plan, interfacing with the patient and family members, consulting with physicians, nurses, chaplains and social workers. It even extends to identifying resources, discharge planning and continuity of care.

For her, this is an exceptional opportunity to capitalize on her eminent qualifications. For members of our Medical/Surgical teams, her talents provide a wonderful support system in delivering the highest quality patient care.

What's it like for Orthopedic RNs?

The 30-bed Orthopedic unit at the John Muir Walnut Creek Campus provides comprehensive care to adults following orthopedic surgical procedures and trauma. It is staffed by specially trained orthopedic nurses and nursing assistants who assist and enable the patients to meet the challenges of pain management and mobility limitations that occur following orthopedic surgery and injury.

The nursing staff is proud of their specialty certification rate, with 99% of RNs having received the distinguished Orthopedic Nurse Certification (ONC). Using the most current procedures and equipment available, the highly trained nursing staff, orthopedic surgeons and therapists work together as a team to provide the highest quality of care and promote positive outcomes for patients.

Orthopedics at the John Muir Concord Campus is the hospital's second busiest service with Total Joints comprising half of the orthopedic procedures. With a very active and busy Emergency Department we have a large volume of urgent orthopedic cases. State-of-the-art Total Joint procedures use stealth technology and equipment. Spine cases also use stealth technology and incorporate the latest in equipment and implants. Both spine and orthopedics are growing services.

Surgical Nurses are part of the multidisciplinary teams that have established a Total Joint Program in cooperation with the surgeons, the Orthopedic Service Line, the Nursing Units, Discharge Planners, Rehabilitation and Administration. The success of this program is due to the collaboration between the surgical nurse and the orthopedic surgeon who work closely to improve the service line and continually provide quality patient care.

Surgical Nurses who enjoy the challenge of innovation, new equipment, new implants, and new techniques thrive in our environment. Orthopedics and Spine service lines continue to evolve and change and improvements are ongoing. The ideal nurse must be adaptable and able to incorporate changes into their practice to continually meet the need of the surgeon and patient. An interest in high technology is a must, but the nurse must also have great surgical skills and a passion for patient care.

For New Grads, Concord has a 6-month surgery program, where a new grad, if accepted, is trained and paid as a Level I nurse. Our Master's Prepared Educator, Charge Nurses and Surgical Administration supervise this program. The program consists of a didactic course dealing with all aspects of surgery, and rotation through all services where they learn the practical side of scrubbing and circulating as they work with an experienced mentor.

Upon completing the New Grad course the nurse should have a strong grasp of the knowledge and clinical skills needed to work in surgery. Nurses who have a special interest in a particular service line continue to improve their skills and gravitate to that service. We believe in continual education, supporting outside conference attendance, training and continual exposure to in-house services.

For cutting edge technology in the continuum of care, consider applying at John Muir Health.

• Search our jobs