Will “First Assistant” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔
Unknown Chance of Automation
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Job Description
Assist surgeons during surgery by performing duties such as tissue retraction, insertion of tubes and intravenous lines, or closure of surgical wounds. Perform preoperative and postoperative duties to facilitate patient care.
Job Details
- The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 29-2099.07
☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Surgical Assistants”.
Also Known As…
- Surgical Assistants
- Surgical Technician (Surgical Tech)
- Surgical Scrub Technician (Surgical Scrub Tech)
- Surgical First Assistant
- Registered Nurse First Assistant (RNFA)
- Gastrointestinal Technician (GI Technician)
- Certified Surgical Technician
- Certified Surgical First Assistant (CSFA)
- Certified Surgical Assistant (CSA)
- Certified Registered Nurse First Assistant (CRNFA)
- Certified First Assistant (CFA)
- Surgical Services Assistant
- Surgical Assistant-Certified (SA-C)
- Surgical Assistant
- Surgery Technician
- Operating Room Technician
- Operating Room Assistant
- Assistant-at-Surgery
Tasks for “First Assistant”
- Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
- Discuss with surgeon the nature of the surgical procedure, including operative consent, methods of operative exposure, diagnostic or laboratory data, or patient-advanced directives or other needs.
- Adjust and maintain operating room temperature, humidity, or lighting, according to surgeon's specifications.
- Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
- Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
- Remove patient hair or disinfect incision sites to prepare patient for surgery.
- Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
- Transport patients to operating room.
- Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
- Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.
- Operate sterilizing devices.
- Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate exposure for the procedure or to protect against nerve damage or circulation impairment.
- Assist in applying casts, splints, braces, or similar devices.
- Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
- Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
- Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
- Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
- Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
- Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
- Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
- Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
- Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
- Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
- Assist in volume replacement or autotransfusion techniques.
- Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
- Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
- Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
- Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
Related Technology & Tools
- Surgical gloves
- Laptop computers
- Surgical protective goggles
- Cell savers
- Desktop computers
- Medical staple kits
- Heart pacemakers
- Surgical robots
- Specimen collection containers
- Eye magnets
- Cardiac monitoring equipment
- Patient positioning devices
- Surgical masks
- Blood warming equipment
- Cast cutting saws
- Powered surgical drills
- Pagers
- Hypothermia units
- Flash sterilizers
- Patient transport stretchers
- Surgical retractors
- Pneumatic tourniquets
- Blanket warmer cabinets
- C-arm tables
- Head stabilizers
- Angiocaths
- Medical image processing printers
- Cauterizing equipment
- Surgical dermatomes
- Surgical clamps
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Argon beam coagulators
- Suction machines
- Sterile drapes
- Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Nd:YAG lasers
- Vascular clamps
- Subcutaneous injection syringes
- Surgical scalpels
- Laparoscopes
- Ethylene Oxide sterilizers
- Personal computers
- Surgical razors
- Carbon dioxide CO2 lasers
- Fiberoptic endoscopes
- Eye lasers
- Sterile gowns
- Telethermometers
- Hospital intercom equipment
- Automated external defibrillators AED
- Suture kits
- Urinary catheters
- Intravenous IV sets
- Wound drains
- Hemostat clamps
- Mayo stands
- Nerve stimulators
- Surgical fracture tables
- Fluid warmers
- Body stabilizers
- Endoscopic camera/video systems
- Surgical trocars
- Pressure steam autoclaves
- Anesthesia carts
- Surgery workflow communication software
- Patient scheduling software
- Patient tracking software
- Nursing documentation software
- Supply documentation software
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- MEDITECH software
- Microsoft Excel