I
f you're like most surgery center administrators, you started out
as a hospital OR circulator, an apprenticeship that didn't come
close to preparing you for all the hats you'd wear and balls you'd
juggle as the chief cook and bottle washer at a freestanding ASC.
You're probably still trying to wrap your head around the impossibly
long list of clinical and administrative responsibilities. We don't have
space to name them all, but you have to know a little bit about a lot
— from procurement to phlebotomy, risk management to medical
records, credentialing to accreditation, infection prevention to preven-
tative maintenance, education to equipment coordinator, QI to QA,
and HR to HIPAA. And when you've got a second to spare,
they could use a hand in pre-op and PACU.
I've been at this probably longer than you have. When
I left the hospital and started my ASC career in the late
1970s, there wasn't an ASC in every strip mall.
Alternative-site outpatient surgery was just an up-and-
coming novelty. I thought I was hired to be an OR circu-
lating nurse, but suddenly I was responsible for about 20
different tasks. It was sink-or-swim, multi-tasking time.
You can have all the titles and responsibilities in the
world, but you must be given the time to do them. It
is difficult to serve two masters, clinical and admin-
istrative, but it can be done. There are no how-to
books for some of your duties — you'll just have
to learn on the run. Others require some back-
ground training or certification, such as administer-
ing conscious sedation or serving as infection pre-
The Many Hats You'll Wear in an ASC
Is it possible to serve both the clinical and administrative masters?
My Turn
Timothy P. Luckett, RN, CRNFA
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