Designed for registered nurses who qualify for CNOR certification and advanced practice registered nurses to achieve certification for surgical first assistant roles, the Registered Nurse First Assistant certificate program at Rockhurst University’s Saint Luke’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences is a pathway to a career as an in-demand perioperative nursing professional.

Why an RNFA?

RNFA-certified nursing professionals take on enhanced roles as surgical team leaders in hospitals and surgical centers. According to the AORN position statement (2022), RNFA’s are qualified as experts in perioperative care, including:

• Preoperative patient management in collaboration with other health care providers, such as
  • performing focused preoperative nursing assessments and
  • communicating and collaborating with other health care providers regarding the patient’s plan of care; and 
• Intraoperative performance of surgical first assistant techniques, such as
  • using instruments and medical devices,
  • providing surgical site exposure,
  • handling and/or cutting tissue,
  • providing hemostasis,
  • suturing, and
  • wound management; and
• Postoperative patient management in collaboration with other health care providers in the immediate postoperative period and beyond, such as 
  • participating in postoperative rounds and o assisting with patient discharge planning, and 
  • identifying appropriate community resources as needed.

Benefits of the RNFA program at Rockhurst University:

• A total of 12 credit hours consisting of two courses that can be completed in one semester
• Coursework can be completed online, asynchronously, with one required three-day on-campus immersion experience
• Courses taught by experienced, qualified nursing faculty
• Health care education in the Jesuit tradition, emphasizing leadership and compassion