Curriculum & Experience

The RNFA course is a six-week intensive course with weekly online synchronous sessions based on the five modules of the AORN curriculum. Meet with instructors and guest speakers and conduct interactive, asynchronous online learning activities, including videos, active discussion boards, activities, readings, and other resources.

After completing the online course, visit the University of Rochester School of Nursing for an in-person Experiential Learning & Skills Day, where RNFA program faculty will cover:

• suture skill development
• scrubbing, gowning, and gloving
• instrumentation identification and handling
• robotic surgery simulation
• laparoscopic simulation

To round out the program, complete a 200-hour clinical internship with a board-certified surgeon preceptor of your choice, which may require a Clinical Placement Agreement with the clinical site and a Surgeon Letter of Commitment. Fifty hours of this internship can be pre- or post-operative, the remainder must be intra-operative.

The RNFA course is based on the guidelines set forth by the Association of Peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN) and is an acceptable program for CRNFA or RNAS-C eligibility with the National Assistant at Surgery Certification (NASC). It is approved for 6 graduate level credits.