National Institute of First Assisting, Inc. NIFA

Tanya Nazarov ,Director of Admissions is the best. She is helpful, caring, knowledgeable and most of all kind and compassionte. She supported me in my time of need. NIFA is lucky to have her.

Very challenging but an excellent program. Prior to taking this RNFA course I had been working as a surgical nurse for over 30 years. I obtained my nurse practitioner and wanted to continue in a surgical role. This program enhanced my knowledge and fine tuned my skills to complete my goal. Today, I am fulfilling my desire in an acute care setting by assisting and take care of post-operative patients by rounding. Best of both worlds; Thank you NIFA

The suture workshop was great especially for a novice .. it is better i think if there is follow up with the students and a time line to complete the different sections as well as apply them to practice.

I did this RNFA program several years ago. The Suture Stars, with Dean Parsons in Chicago.
It was great!
However- there needs to be more tool kits and follow up time. I find myself going to YouTube to watch different suturing and feel that’s inadequate. A toolkit with online libraries would be very helpful and promote more people wanting to receive this certificate.
Otherwise, it was a good 3-day program- great for someone who already works in the OR as a scrub nurse or frequently scrubs in as extra hands for a procedure.
I may also add, it would be helpful to possibly be more specific to the needs of the students- I’m my course, we did hysterectomy and vascular grafting- two things I rarely do.
I do a lot of neuro spine and orthopedic surgery and so learning to place retractors around nerves and vessels as well as anatomy and suturing of the anterior and posterior neck would have been most helpful to me. I did learn on the job, but advanced knowledge, other than books and YouTube would have been much better. Spending time doing abdominal hysterectomy was not something I needed to spend one of my valuable class days learning.
Thanks