Registered Nurse First Assistant Program

Full Schedule Self-paced online course

The USF College of Nursing College collaborates with Tampa General Hospital to offer a Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) Program. This uniquely designed CE skills-based certificate program will provide specialty certification and training for perioperative nurses to function as a first assistant in the operating room and to practice beyond their normal scope of practice in the operating room. The RNFA program helps nurses enhance their skills, abilities, and provides an opportunity to increase their salary.

According to the AORN, an RNFA is defined by the following:

• works in collaboration with the surgeon and other healthcare team members to achieve optimal patient outcomes;
• has acquired the necessary knowledge, judgment, and skills specific to the expanded role of RNFA clinical practice;
• intraoperatively practices at the direction of the surgeon; and
• does not concurrently function as a scrub person.

Accreditation Statement

A maximum of 135 contact hours may be earned by learners who successfully complete this continuing nursing education activity.

USF Health is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.