CRNFA Practice Hours
How do I document 2,000 hours of practice?
Click here to download a spreadsheet to document your hours of practice. A printout from your facility may be submitted if it provides the same information.
All RNFAs, to include APRNs, must have completed at least 2,000 hours of practice as an RNFA at the time of application. Hours may include preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative patient care, defined as:
- Preoperative Phase: Begins when the decision for operative and/or invasive procedure is made and ends when patient enters the operating room.
- Intraoperative Phase: Begins when the patient enters the operating room and ends when the patient leaves the operating room.
- Postoperative Phase: Begins when the patient leaves the operative room and ends with the resolution of the surgical sequelae.
In addition:
- Pre-, intra-, and postoperative care do not have to be for the same patient. The pre-and postoperative hours do not have to be the cases on which the applicant assisted.
- At least 1,000 hours must involve first assisting practice during the intraoperative period.
- At least 500 of the required 2,000 hours must be in the two years immediately preceding application.
- The 2,000 hours may include practice in an RNFA internship or practicum, otherwise the hours must be completed after graduation from the RNFA program.
- Practice hours earned in a volunteer status while working in the RNFA role may be utilized in fulfillment of this requirement.
- The 2,000 hours may not include time attending of classes, programs or seminars.
Documentation that must be submitted with the application includes the following:
- Date of procedure
- Type of procedure
- Time of procedure delineating pre-, intra-, and postoperative hours
- Initials of the surgeon assisted (the surgeon does not need to sign or initial the log – you just need to provide their initials)
Preoperative hours may include:
- Preadmission management and planning
- History and physical assessment
- Patient, family, and community education
- Immediate preoperative assessment
- Review patient record for necessary documentation related to the surgical procedure
- Participate in components of Universal Protocol
- Communication of plan of care and pertinent information with OR staff, including special needs of both patient and surgeon
Intraoperative hours must include:
Intraoperative hours must include serving in the first assistant role. While performing in the intraoperative role the first assistant cannot be concurrently serving in any other perioperative nursing role.
Postoperative hours may include:
- Assist with initial PACU monitoring
- Write postoperative orders
- Write or dictate progress notes, discharge summaries, history and physicals
- Postoperative interventions during daily rounds to include dressing changes, suture or drain removal, other types of catheter and IV removal, other tasks as ordered by the surgeon which are within the RN scope of practice
- Assist in monitoring nutritional support, intravenous, and electrolyte therapy
- Postoperative teaching, discharge instructions to patient and/or family
- Collaborate with facility and community resources for post-discharge care
- Physician office visits that include any of the above-mentioned behaviors, follow-up care, or procedures
- Assist with medications and medication teaching
- Transport to PACU
