RN Clinical Nurse I - New to Preop/PACU Training Program

Opportunity for New Graduate Nurses - New to Preop/PACU Training Program - UNC Ambulatory Surgery Center - Anticipated start February 2027.

This opportunity is for new graduate nurses who have graduated from nursing school within the past 12 months, having less than 6 months of experience, or anticipate graduating from nursing school in December 2026. It is expected that applicants will have a nursing (RN) license that allows them to practice in the state of North Carolina prior to the first day of employment.

The New to Preop/PACU (NPP) is partnered with the New Graduate Residency Program (NRP) which is a yearlong program supporting transition from academia to practice for new graduate nurses.

The NPP program is a 12-week curriculum utilizing ASPAN’s Mosby Modules, didactic classroom instruction, simulation lab practice, and hands on clinical preceptorship. In addition to the daily schedule, expectations will include completion of all modules, homework, evaluations, and achieving a passing score on the final exam. This will pair with the requirements for the NRP. Each nurse will spend time on the main campus or other UNC sites for class and simulations and will participate in clinical at their hired unit.

Orientation schedules are subject to adjustment based departmental needs.

UNC Hospitals has earned the distinguished Magnet designation that recognizes nurses for their excellence and provides professional growth opportunities. Clinical ladder is available for advancement.

Department Information

The UNC Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) is a free-standing surgical facility with 8 operating rooms and 3 cystoscopy procedure rooms. Our department includes 9 PreOp bays, 10 PACU bays, 6 Short Stay Unit (SSU) rooms for patients requiring stays of up to 23 hours, and 9 dedicated cystoscopy pre/post-procedure bays.

The ASC supports a diverse range of surgical specialties, including orthopedics (sports), ENT, plastic surgery, general surgery, surgical oncology, and urology. We care for both pediatric and adult patients, with our pediatric population beginning at 6 months of age.

Our team currently cares for approximately 32 patients per day, with volumes growing to approximately 40–48 patients daily following the addition of cystoscopy services. PACU nurses can typically expect to care for approximately 4–6 patients per shift, depending on patient acuity, surgical volume, and workflow.

Our multidisciplinary team works collaboratively across PreOp, PACU, Short Stay, and cystoscopy areas to provide safe, efficient, and patient-centered perioperative care in a fast-paced ambulatory surgery environment.

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Summary

Provides competent clinical nursing care consistent with professional standards. Reporting and accountable to the Nurse Manager/Director, the Clinical Nurse is responsible for coordinating and delivering patient care utilizing the nursing process in a hospital setting.

Responsibilities

• Education - Participates in identifying and meeting learning needs of self. Attends education programs based on identified learning needs. With assistance, uses patient education materials relevant to patient population. Assesses readiness to learn of the patient/family/caregivers. Assesses developmental level of patient and factors affecting ability to learn.

• Evaluation of Care - Identifies expected patient outcomes. Seeks guidance as needed in revision of plan of care. Participates in discussion with members of the interdisciplinary team in evaluation of patient care. Communicates relevant information to promote continuity of care.

• Implementation - Demonstrates competence in care of patients with complex problems, including population-appropriate physical, psychosocial, educational and safety aspects of care. Performs bedside point of care testing as required for patient care plan. Utilizes healthcare organization and nursing standards, policies and procedures in delivery of care. Organizes and prioritizes care according to patient/family needs. Consults with appropriate resources in a timely fashion regarding patients with complex care issues, unusual teaching needs and/or those at high risk for discharge planning.

• Leadership - With assistance, develops goals to promote professional growth or minimize limitations. Achieves goals and objectives within identified time frame or renegotiates with supervisor. Is knowledgeable about activities which facilitate intra/interdepartmental collaboration. Participates in development and achievement of unit goals and performance improvement activities. Effectively uses communication systems. Participates in promoting cost-effective care. Gives feedback to co-workers. Is aware of public policy and regulatory guidelines affecting the health care environment. Promotes a safe, clean and secure hospital environment for all

• Patient Assessment - Recognizes data from complex situations to determine priorities for care. Includes appropriate physical, psychosocial, education and safety needs. Synthesizes assessment data into meaningful whole prior to communication to others. Assesses and anticipates discharge needs of individual patients and families. Develops relationships with families that promote their ability to advocate for the patient and their own needs.

• Planning - Collaborates with patient/family to prepare or update the plan of care. Makes use of available multidisciplinary resources in planning care. Begins to use full range of communication as a means to convey planning. Identifies and addresses cultural and ethnic issues in planning patient care. Demonstrates ability to prioritize tasks for patients with complex problems.

• Research - Reads journals that contain studies or articles that may be applicable to practice. Brings ideas and questions to the staff at large for assessment of applicability.

Other Information

Other information

Education

Requirements

• Graduate of a Board of Nursing approved nursing education program.

• If hired after January 6, 2014, must be enrolled within four years of employment, and obtain a Bachelor's degree with a major in Nursing or a Master's degree with a major in Nursing within seven years of employment date.

Licensure/Certification

Requirements

• Licensed to practice as a Registered Nurse in the state of North Carolina by the day of clinical care.

• Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Provider certification

Professional Experience

Requirements

• No prior experience required.

Knowledge/Skills/and Abilities

Requirements

Job Details

• Legal Employer: STATE
• Entity: UNC Medical Center
• Organization Unit: UNCH Pre-Op/PACU ASC
• Work Type: Full Time
• Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00
• Salary Range: $32.55 - $41.77 per hour (Hiring Range)

Pay offers are determined by experience and internal equity

Work Assignment Type: Onsite

Work Schedule

Variable

Location of Job: US:NC:Chapel Hill Exempt From Overtime: Exempt: No

This is a State position employed by UNC Health Care System with UNC Health benefits. If, however, you are presently an employee of another North Carolina agency and currently participate in TSERS or the ORP, you will be eligible to continue participating in those plans at UNC Health.

Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran or political affiliation.

UNC Health makes reasonable accommodations for applicants' and employees' religious practices and beliefs, as well as applicants and employees with disabilities. All interested applicants are invited to apply for career opportunities. Please email applicant.accommodations@unchealth.unc.edu if you need a reasonable accommodation to search and/or to apply for a career opportunity.