OR Assistant, Part-time, Rotating

At Northwestern Medicine, every patient interaction makes a difference in cultivating a positive workplace. This patient‑first approach is what sets us apart as a leader in the healthcare industry. As an integral part of our team, you’ll have the opportunity to join our quest for better health care, no matter where you work within the Northwestern Medicine system. We pride ourselves on providing competitive benefits: from tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness to 401(k) matching and lifecycle benefits, our goal is to take care of our employees.

This rotating, part‑time position requires working weekends, various shifts, and providing holiday coverage as needed by the department. Orientation will vary between 07:00‑15:30, 15:00‑23:30, and 23:00‑07:30. After orientation, the permanent shift will be Tuesdays and Thursdays 15:00‑23:30, Fridays 13:00‑21:30, and Saturdays 07:00‑15:30. This position is part‑time, 32 hours per week, 0.8 FTE.

Reflects the mission, vision, and values of Northwestern Memorial, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.

Surgical Specimens & Blood Products

• Transports specimens from OR to universal tube system and tubes to appropriate location.
• Logs each surgical pathology specimen into pathology log book recording time transported and initials.
• Responsible for specimen service requests sent by means of specimen pager in Feinberg OR.
• Responds to specimen pick‑up requests immediately.
• Faxitron specimens are picked up from the OR and walked to radiology immediately for processing.
• Performs daily specimen reconciliation with pathology staff and reports for quality management.
• Receives blood products via universal tube system and direct from blood bank, places in blood refrigerator and delivers to OR suite as directed adhering to our reconciliation communication process.
• Picks up and returns blood refrigerator to and from blood bank as directed.
• Walks all surgical pathology tissue specimens direct from OR to path lab; logs in book and performs handoff.

CSS Responsibilities

• Transports soiled case carts to soiled lift and sends to CSS for re‑sterilization.
• Operates clean case cart lift and removes clean case carts and instruments and delivers to appropriate OR suites.

Surgical Patient & Belongings Transport

• Transports surgical patients.
• Assists in OR with patient lifting, positioning, and transfer as directed by nursing staff.
• Delivers SDS patient belongings to correct patient in recovery room and to nursing units as necessary.

Equipment/Supplies

• Transports lasers, microscopes, and other OR equipment from storage areas, down multiple corridors to the appropriate OR suite and returns to equipment storage when no longer needed.
• Obtains supplies from warehouse pod cart and delivers to OR rooms.
• Consistently and frequently refills warmers with blankets and irrigation solutions to maintain supply.
• Replenishes scrub brushes, masks, and goggles as needed to maintain supply.
• Exchanges empty O₂ tanks to full tanks as necessary on all patient stretchers and beds when below 1‑PSI.
• Moves clean total joint/bariatric/clinical and specialty beds from various locations and places outside of OR suites intra‑operatively as directed and notifies control desk coordinator when task completed.
• Twists, stoops and bends to clean surgical stretchers as needed and thoroughly clean M‑W‑F.
• Operates copier and copies 4 am surgical schedules as per 4 am schedule list.
• Cleans each patient stretcher as necessary.
• Performs intra‑op linen change on each stretcher outside of operating rooms.
• Docks Neptune suction machine after each use.
• Picks up and returns supplies from other departments as needed.
• Identifies, isolates, communicates, and documents broken equipment for repair being specific as to identify the malfunction.
• Inventories/reports/replenishes forms when form levels are low in POD.
• Places equipment inside and outside of OR suite for next day first cases.
• Assists in readiness and assembly of surgical supplies and room setup.

Communicat…