Registered Nurse First Assistant - Duke Health Cary

At Duke Health, we're driven by a commitment to compassionate care that changes the lives of patients, their loved ones, and the greater community. No matter where your talents lie, join us and discover how we can advance health together.

Duke Health Cary

Opening in Spring 2027, the next phase of this 85-acre, mixed use walkable Duke Health Cary campus will add emergency services, inpatient care, surgical services, imaging, specialty care, and infusion services, creating more than 230 career opportunities. Joining Duke Health Cary offers the opportunity to build something new, grow your career, and support our mission of advancing health across the communities we serve.

Duke Health is seeking an experienced Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) to join the founding clinical team of the new Duke Health Cary Surgery Center
, a state‑of‑the‑art ambulatory surgery center scheduled to open in 2027.

This is a rare opportunity to be part of a new surgical facility from the beginning, helping shape the culture, workflows, and patient experience while delivering exceptional surgical care in a highly collaborative environment.

The Duke Health Cary Surgery Center will feature six operating and procedure rooms, including advanced robotic surgery capabilities with two da Vinci surgical systems. The center will provide outpatient surgical services across multiple specialties, including:

• Urology
• Plastic Surgery
• Breast Oncology
• General Surgery
• Gynecology
• ENT
• Pediatric Urology
• Pediatric ENT
• Orthopedic Surgery

As a member of the inaugural perioperative team, you will:

• Help establish a culture of excellence, innovation, and teamwork
• Work with cutting‑edge surgical technology, including robotic‑assisted procedures
• Contribute to process design and continuous improvement initiatives
• Collaborate with highly skilled surgeons and perioperative professionals
• Deliver exceptional patient‑centered care in a modern outpatient environment
• Play a key role in launching one of the region's most advanced ambulatory surgery centers

The Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) provides comprehensive perioperative patient care through the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases of surgery. Working collaboratively with surgeons and the perioperative team, the RNFA serves as the qualified first assistant during surgical procedures, helping optimize patient outcomes, surgical efficiency, and workflow effectiveness.

This role supports surgical services across multiple specialties and serves patients of all ages while promoting quality, safety, and excellence in surgical care.

• Conduct patient assessments and evaluations
• Collaborate with surgeons and care teams to develop plans of care
• Prepare and document preoperative orders in accordance with established protocols
• Coordinate care and communicate with multidisciplinary team members

• Serve as the qualified first assistant to the operating surgeon
• Provide surgical exposure, hemostasis, tissue handling, and wound closure
• Utilize surgical instruments, equipment, and technology safely and effectively
• Support procedural efficiency and patient safety throughout the surgical procedure

• Collaborate with providers during the immediate postoperative period
• Assist with postoperative documentation and orders following established protocols
• Participate in patient rounds and discharge planning activities
• Support continuity of care and positive patient outcomes

The RNFA functions as the surgical first assistant and does not concurrently perform the role of scrub nurse during…