Transform Your Surgical Nursing Career

Choose the right RNFA program and you can transform your surgical nursing skills, boost your job satisfaction, and prepare for an income you thought you'd have to go to medical school to earn.

Preparing You for RNFA Success

Only the American Center for Excellence in Surgical Assisting (ACE Surgical Assisting) offers its RN First Assist program students a greater than 90% certification pass rate. ACE Surgical Assisting is the largest online Surgical First Assistant Program in the United States and our registered nurse graduates are better prepared to earn more in their work. With ACE Surgeon Assistant Training, you will get more hands-on and knowledge preparation than you would get through most AORN-accepted programs!

Make the Smart Choice

Save yourself time and money by considering these six standards when comparing Surgical Assistant Certification Programs:

Standard 1: ABSA Approved

After completing the ACE Surgical Assistant Program, you can sit for the SA-C (Surgical Assistant Certified) exam at our expense. Once you pass, you will be ABSA Approved.

Standard 2: Online Distance-Learning

Be sure the Registered Nurse First Assist program you select is truly an online program. Some surgical assistant schools indicate ‘online' when actually the programs are email. A true online program is web-based and materials are automatically available when you need them. Another important difference is that online training accommodates your schedule instead of waiting for email or snail mail assignments. RNFA course materials can be accessed online from your secure, personalized webpage.

Standard 3: Personal Attention from Staff and Faculty

First Assist RN program instructions should be easily understood and self-explanatory. But make sure you will receive unlimited personal attention from staff and faculty when you need it. Consider these important indicators when choosing your Surgical Assistant Training provider: 1) Promises made in the program literature; 2) How much assistance is offered before you enroll; and 3) How promptly your phone calls are returned, if at all.

Standard 4: Extensive Hands-on Training

Dan Bump has been helping Operating Room Nurses and others develop into highly skilled RN First Assistants for 20 years.

Dan is the architect of the 6-day training model for developing usable expertise. Other RNFA programs have copied his 6-day model, but they couldn't duplicate his results because of the talent, expertise, experience, and cost necessary. So now many of them offer only minimum hands-on and/or make it completely optional.

Look for at least 6 days of First Assist RN skills training so you'll have sufficient time and one-on-one feedback to develop surgery-ready wound closure and advanced surgical skills. Learning while doing surgery simulations gives you ‘skills in context.' You won't be left guessing how, where, and when to apply a skill.

Standard 5: Strong promise that you can master surgical skills

Surgical skills or the lack of them can make or break your RNFA medical career. You want assurances you'll come away from your hands-on surgical RN First Assist training able to perform like a seasoned expert. Here are 3 things to look for:

• A minimum of six full days of hands-on surgical first assist training.
• Professional instructors with impressive talent, expertise, and experience. (Check the bios of both the instructor and the program developer.)
• Ability to retake the hands-on lab as many times as you need. There should be no conditions, limitations, extra costs, or wait lists. Get it in writing!

Standard 6: Higher-learning clinical internship

An exceptional hands-on RNFA training experience can transform an ordinary clinical internship into a higher-learning experience. Since we don't leave it to surgeons to teach you all the surgical skills, they have more time to demonstrate advanced techniques and share the trade secrets that made them successful.

Look for clinical internships with a wide variety of cases in at least two specialties. You should have the opportunity to first assist on at least 135 cases. Additionally, you should be able to customize your RNFA experience with available cases by working with YOUR surgeons and at YOUR local hospital.

Benefits to You and Your Employer

Becoming a surgeon assistant has many benefits for both you and your employers. Learn how your new skills will improve your career and your job prospects as well as improve your employer's ability to serve clients.
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Qualifications

What do you need to do in order to become a certified surgical first assistant? Why just complete the ACE Surgical Assistant certification program of course! Learn the qualifications necessary to enroll in our first assist program.
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What You Need to Know

So you’re ready to take your registered nursing career to the next level. Now you need to know how to select an RNFA program to best suit your needs. Use these guidelines to help you make your choice.
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Sign Up Today for ACE Surgical Assistant Program

Get the hand-on skills practice you need to become an expert first surgical assistant. Register now by completing the form on this page to download the registration packet. Download our brochure or ACE First Surgical Assistant School Catalog to get more information about the Surgical Assistant certification program from ACE Surgical Assisting.