About
Stefanie Olivas, BSN, RN, CNOR
Perioperative & Surgical Legal Nurse Consultant
I spent nearly twenty years in the operating room before I ever opened a case file — and that is exactly why attorneys hire me.
My clinical career has been built in perioperative services: circulating and scrubbing in breast surgery, trauma, transplant, pediatrics, GI, and orthopedics, and eventually leading a multi-department surgical program as Director of Surgical Services.
In that role I worked shoulder to shoulder with surgeons, anesthesiologists, and multidisciplinary teams while reviewing complex records, writing and enforcing policy, preparing for Joint Commission survey, driving quality improvement, and partnering with risk management on events that mattered.
That means I know what an operative record should contain, how a count is supposed to be performed and charted, who was in the room, what the facility's own policy required, and what an absent entry usually indicates. I read the chart the way the people who wrote it read it.
I consult for both plaintiff and defense counsel. My work product is objective — if the documentation supports the care, I will tell you that first.
Career history
Twenty years inside surgical services
2023 – Present
Owner and Nurse Injector
Rejuvenate Aesthetics Medical Spa — Oakley, CA
Clinical, operational, and fiscal accountability for a boutique practice; sole nurse injector; staff training, infection control, documentation standards, and regulatory compliance (Board of Nursing, OSHA, HIPAA).
2019 – 2025
Director, Surgical Services
Sutter Delta Medical Center — Antioch, CA
24/7 accountability for 4 ORs, a procedure room, 2 GI suites, pre-op and PACU, and an acquired cath lab; Joint Commission and GACH relicensing surveys; capital planning; new cath lab build-out from pre-construction.
2018 – 2019
Manager, Surgical Services
Sutter Delta Medical Center — Antioch, CA
Launched a breast oncology service line; implemented the Sutter-wide Universal Protocol and rebuilt the tissue tracking process.
2013 – 2018
Manager / Interim Manager / Clinical Supervisor, Surgical Services
California Pacific Medical Center — San Francisco, CA
8 ORs, anesthesia, and sterile processing; 62 FTEs; $8M+ materials and services budget; helped open the Mission Bernal campus; participated in system-wide Universal Protocol and surgical count policy standardization.
2009 – 2013
Staff Nurse / Charge Nurse — Operating Room
Highland Hospital — Oakland, CA
Scrubbed and circulated neuro, ENT, ortho, GYN, ophthalmology, general, plastics, and trauma; orthopedic lead specialist; trained circulating RNs and scrub techs.
2006 – 2009
Operating Room RN — travel and Level 1 trauma
University of Kansas Medical Center and travel assignments
Night-shift charge RN at a Level 1 trauma center; travel assignments in Denver, Dallas, New York City, Omaha, and San Mateo covering trauma, transplant, and pediatric surgery.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Kansas Medical Center, 2006.
Licensure & certification
California RN license; CNOR (Certified Perioperative Nurse); BLS, ACLS, and PALS.