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Work in the Field

Operating Room Nurses

Requirements

  • Licensed, registered nurse (RN) with 2 years of experience working in operating room
  • No more than a 2 year gap in clinical experience
  • Experience in general surgery, trauma, orthopedics and/or obstetrics
  • General knowledge of all OR duties so able to train and manage the OR
  • Flexibility and availability
  • Ability to work with an international team
  • Ability to work in a low-tech environment
  • Relevant travel

Assets

  • Experience as OR Nurse Manager/Charge Nurse
  • Ability to speak French a plus
Sri Lanka 2007 © Henk Braam

Operating Room (OR) nurses often work with emergency teams to treat people wounded in conflict zones or they join teams that are providing longer-term surgical care to communities without access to functioning health care systems.

Basic diagnostic equipment and facilities needed to run an operating room will be limited: there may not even be an X-ray machine.
MSF may ask OR nurses to depart on very short notice to meet the needs of emergencies that require their skills; but MSF does offer OR nurses the option of shorter-than-usual assignments (generally lasting from six weeks to three months or more). 

Q&A with MSF Aid Workers

Louise Fang
Seattle, Washington
Johanne Sekkenes
New York, New York
Rebecca Singer
Cleveland, Ohio
MSF Recruitment Information
 
Louise Fang

Role: Operating Room Nurse
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
MSF Assignments: Nigeria, South Sudan

"You are put into that position and you have to learn quickly. I started out just treating everybody as I wanted people to treat me, putting myself in the other people’s shoes, and trying to mediate the conflicts they might have."
Read Louise's Profile »
 
 
Johanne Sekkenes

Role: Nurse, Operational Support Coordinator
Hometown: New York, New York
MSF Assignments: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Chad, Niger, Mozambique...

"The most difficult aspect of field work is to witness human suffering. Everywhere MSF works you see enormous human suffering. There is nothing to prepare you for this."
Read Johanne's Profile »
 
Rebecca Singer

Role: RN, ND
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
MSF Assignments: Spain, Uganda, Liberia

"With MSF, there is no hierarchy and everybody is an integral part of the team."
Read Rebecca's Profile »
 
Field Staff Benefits
  • Monthly salary
  • Local per diem
  • Round-trip transportation
  • In-country room & board
  • Medical & life insurance
  • Emergency evacuation insurance
See all Benefits
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