This is the first of a two course series that prepares registered nurses (RNs) for the RN First Assistant role according to the guidelines published in the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Core Curriculum. The course provides the perioperative nurse advanced practice RNs (APRNs) with the foundational knowledge and skills to function at an expanded practice level. Content includes vascular, orthopedic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and other surgical procedures; responses to various physiologic complications; team building, communication and conflict resolution; and practice in tissue handling, retracting, exposing, clamping, ligating, suturing, and providing hemostasis. Prerequisite: Students must meet all Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA) program entry criteria and have permission of instructor. (F;S;SS)