Julie Howells

• Responsible for providing management and oversight of daily operating room activities.
• Works in partnership with Nursing leadership and other facility management and departments to ensure provision of optimal patient care, attainment of financial goals, and development of staff.
• Contributes to strategic planning process, day-to-day operations, standards of care, and attainment of organizational goals.
• Advocates for and allocates available resources to promote efficient, effective, safe and compassionate nursing care based on current standards of practice.
• Promotes shared decision-making and professional autonomy.
• Uses resources effectively and manages expenses to meet financial goals of department.
• Models and fosters an environment of professionalism and employee engagement in the department.
• Responsible for recruitment, retention, and employee satisfaction. Ensures competent and sufficient number of staff to meet patient care needs, which includes hiring, orientation, and managing staffing according to changing census. Evaluate staff competency through use of performance reviews and peer reviews.
• Responsible for department performance and compliance with patient safety initiatives, federal, state and other regulatory bodies such as Joint Commission, OSHA, CMS, DOPL and other department specific accrediting and certifying bodies.
• Ensures achievement of clinical program goals and implements action plans to improve performance as needed. Effectively uses professional and organizational best practices to ensure delivery of quality patient care.
• Monitors and improves patient satisfaction utilizing available service metrics and national benchmarks to develop and implement action plans to achieve desired outcomes.
• Acts as a role model for staff and encourages the incorporation of healing commitments in every aspect of patient care delivery.
• Ensures that staff incorporates evidence based practice into all aspects of care delivery.
• Partner with physicians at a department level to achieve clinical, operational, and service goals.

Responsible for daily staffing, coordination of special needs for equipment and supplies needed for cases. Troubleshot any problems that happen occur in the OR and with staff issues. Circulate and/or scrub cases as needed. Attend meetings involving surgeons/anesthesiologists needs.

Preparation for OR cases with medications as well as organizing equipment and supplies for cases being done each day. Interview and assess patients. Communicate concerns/problems and readiness of the room. Assess anesthesia during intubation. Position and prep patient's for surgery. Circulate cases in the OR and help with any anesthesia, surgeon or scrub needs. Assess in transporting patient's to the PACU and giving handoff report in PACU.

Preparation for OR cases with medications as well as organizing equipment and supplies for cases being done each day. Interview and assess patients. Communicate concerns/problems and readiness of the room. Assess anesthesia during intubation. Position and prep patient's for surgery. Circulate cases in the OR and help with any anesthesia, surgeon or scrub needs. Assess in transporting patient's to the PACU and giving handoff report in PACU.

I started out cleaning the medical office/surgery suites at night in preparation to see patients the next day. I then moved up to working in the office during the day and helped in scheduling patients, taking pre/post-surgery photographs of the patients and developed the pictures, transcribed the doctors dictation notes for office visits and surgeries and assisted in billing for insurance claims. I then became an Operating Room Technician and assisted the doctor in surgeries, in the office as well as the hospital.

Pick supplies and equipment needed for OR cases. Open supplies/equipment for case and set up for surgeries. Assist surgeons during cases by passing instruments/supplies needed, holding retractors and suturing. Clean up the back table after each case and help clean the room in preparation for the next case. Clean and process the instruments used for the day. Operate autoclaves and System 1 machines and assist with documentation. Help terminally clean the OR's for cases the next day.

I helped open the outpatient surgery department at St. Benedict's hospital. I put instruments sets together, helped organize the central processing unit as well as the OR's and getting the department ready to open. I worked as an Operating Room Technician doing outpatient procedures. I also performed central processing duties and environmental responsibilities.