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In April, Barraza submitted her professional portfolio to become a certified registered nurse first assistant and in May she was credentialed.īarraza said she wanted to become a nurse ever since she was a child.
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Long Beach Memorial, where Barraza has worked since 2010, has about a half dozen RNFAs but Barraza is the only one certified for cardiovascular surgery. “I want to give 100% every time because of them-they are giving that much, so I need to, too.” “I really love my team we are in it together like a family,” she added. “It’s extremely stressful but if you have a passion for what you do, then the benefit outweighs the stress,” Barraza said. Having gone through the rigors of furthering her education, in a pinch, Barraza can serve in the scrub and circulating nurse positions as well as the first assistant role during the same procedure, she said. “But now in cardiac surgery and in vascular surgery, if there’s a need for bypass, I can harvest a saphenous vein independently.”īarraza’s first nursing job was at UCLA, where she continues to work as a per diem nurse. “Up until then you’re still just assisting,” Barraza said. Once she became an RNFA, Barraza took it one step further: one more year of education to specialize in and be able to perform certain aspects of cardiovascular surgery-heart, lungs, esophagus and other organs in the chest. The one-year RNFA program included additional classroom and practical education where Barraza learned to assist surgeons in the OR beyond handing them instruments. Once certified, Barraza applied to UCLA’s RNFA program, one of only two such programs in California and 13 nationwide. Then she spent two years working in the operating room before she was able to take a certification test to become a certified perioperative nurse or CNOR.
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She also learned how to be a scrub nurse who assists within the sterile field, ensuring the patient and surgeon have everything they need during the procedure.Īfter graduating from the residency in about one year, Barraza completed another one-year residency in cardiothoracic surgery. Her focus was on the OR, so she was educated in surgical service lines, including general, pediatric, orthopedic and neuro.ĭuring the residency, Barraza learned to be a circulating nurse who manages the OR outside of the sterile field to maintain a safe, comfortable environment for the patient, as well as provide updates for the family.
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Once a registered nurse, Barraza was accepted into a perioperative residency program at UCLA that included additional classroom education and hands-on training in a hospital. From the latter two, she earned bachelor’s degrees in nursing and business, respectively. Mary’s University and Western Governors University. Barraza first attended East LA College and then Mount St. The road to the operating table was a long one. “I’m able to jump into three different roles at once and I’m only one person. “It’s beneficial because there are situations where we have emergencies and a patient is coming straight out of the emergency room and we have a very little amount of time to get ready before surgery,” Barraza said. But for the last eight years, Barraza has operated in an expanded role as registered nurse first assistant, or RNFA, with additional training that gives her the ability to perform surgical procedures independently. Photo courtesy of Memorial.įor 17 years, Bobbie Barraza has cared for patients through her position as a registered nurse. Nurse Bobbie Barraza is a certified registered nurse first assistant at Long Beach Memorial.