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Nurse (Operating Room)

Defense Health Agency
United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 3 Apr 2026

About the role

Overview

 

Nurse (Operating Room), Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA (Madigan)

Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA

Joint Base Lewis-McChord, its affiliated clinics and dental clinic are located at Fort Lewis, Washington, near the city of Tacoma. Madigan AMC is one of only three designated Level Two trauma centers within the U.S. Medical Command.

 

DHA Benefits: 

 

https://civilianmedicaljobs.com/benefits/

 

 

 

 

Tacoma is a progressive city of 200,000 nestled between Seattle and the state capital of Olympia. The region offers the attractions of larger metropolitan areas, with a hometown feel. World-class museums, hotels and theaters draw thousands to downtown Tacoma while the shores of the Puget Sound and Mount Rainier inspire outdoor enthusiasts. The Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Chihuly Bridge of Glass, Emerald Downs Racetrack, Emerald Queen Casino, Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, Lakewold Gardens, and the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad represent a small sampling of the region's varied entertainment options. The city offers excellent schools, universities, parks, festivals and regional shopping centers.Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of CommerceMadigan Army Medical CenterJoint Base Lewis McChord

 

Working for the Department of Defense comes with an abundance of benefits and perks to include competitive compensation packages, paid-time off, medical benefits, student loan repayments, and retirement package with Thrift Savings Plan to include matching employer contributions. For more information, please visit the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/benefits/

Responsibilities

Major Duties:

 

Incumbent serves as an Operating Room Nurse providing perioperative nursing care in a multi-service operating room providing a full range of surgical nursing services supporting complex and extensive surgical procedures. Intra-operatively manages nursing care of patients of all ages undergoing major surgical procedures of various types such as dental rehabilitation, cesarean childbirth, general, gynecological, orthopedic, neurological, genitor-urology, ophthalmology, plastic and reconstructive, podiatry, thoracic, vascular, and ears, nose and throat. Patients range in age from pediatric to geriatric and civilian traumas at select locations or specific circumstances. Performs duties in support of all phases of perioperative care (e.g., preoperative care, intraoperative, and Post Anesthesia Care Unit - PACU) and sterile processing.

 

1. Performs circulating roles of a perioperative nurse. Ensures sterile technique and anticipates the surgical team’s needs. Collaborates with surgeons in one or more surgical services to assess, coordinate, plan, and implement the newest approaches and practices to deliver efficient, cost-effective surgical care for the beneficiary population. May circulate or scrub to support surgical cases. Coordinates with physicians and other staff, preoperatively, to develop a multi-disciplinary, intra-operative plan of care. Responsible for aseptic technique during the preparation for and duration of the operative procedure, accuracy of sponge, instrument and needle counts and adequacy of supplies. Opens all sterile packs and supplies, according to aseptic technique. Notes and responds to breaches of standard procedures that compromise the patient or staff members. Reviews and edits surgeon's preference cards for desired medications, equipment, and surgical supplies. Sets up, uses, reprocesses, and maintains all unit/department-specific equipment. Monitors and utilizes simple and highly technical equipment, such as lasers, electrosurgical generators, sterilization equipment, video towers, operative microscopes, endoscopes, multiple complex surgical instruments and drills, implants, positioning devices, insufflators, and robotic equipment. Ensures equipment is working properly, preoperatively, and throughout surgical procedures. Monitors all operative processes; anesthesia, surgery, sterile technique, equipment functioning, and patient responses. Initiates and intervenes with immediate corrective action. Responsible for process improvement and risk management in the clinical areas. Engages in evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and process improvement projects.

Conducts initial perioperative assessment, acquiring pertinent information, such as allergies, NPO status, and consent. Implements individualized nursing care plans to include safety precautions, correct positioning, infection control precautions, aseptic and/or sterile practices, dispensing and/or administering medications. Logs out and prepares controlled drugs and administers to the patient as prescribed. Utilizes the perioperative nursing process to identify patient problems and generate a nursing diagnosis. Implement

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Company

Defense Health Agency

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