Will “Operating Room 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
- First Assistant
- Assistant-at-Surgery
Tasks for “Operating Room Assistant”
- Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
- Adjust and maintain operating room temperature, humidity, or lighting, according to surgeon's specifications.
- Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.
- Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
- Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
- Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
- Assist in volume replacement or autotransfusion techniques.
- Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
- Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
- Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
- 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.
- Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
- Remove patient hair or disinfect incision sites to prepare patient for surgery.
- Transport patients to operating room.
- Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
- 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.
- Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
- Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
- Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
- Assist in applying casts, splints, braces, or similar devices.
- Operate sterilizing devices.
- Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
- Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
- Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
- Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
- Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
- Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
- Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
Related Technology & Tools
- Pressure steam autoclaves
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Endoscopic camera/video systems
- Wound drains
- Head stabilizers
- Subcutaneous injection syringes
- Argon beam coagulators
- Ethylene Oxide sterilizers
- Hemostat clamps
- C-arm tables
- Surgical robots
- Medical staple kits
- Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Nd:YAG lasers
- Pagers
- Carbon dioxide CO2 lasers
- Eye lasers
- Cast cutting saws
- Suction machines
- Angiocaths
- Hospital intercom equipment
- Surgical scalpels
- Intravenous IV sets
- Heart pacemakers
- Laparoscopes
- Automated external defibrillators AED
- Medical image processing printers
- Surgical dermatomes
- Surgical masks
- Surgical gloves
- Surgical retractors
- Surgical clamps
- Cardiac monitoring equipment
- Blanket warmer cabinets
- Hypothermia units
- Pneumatic tourniquets
- Laptop computers
- Surgical protective goggles
- Sterile gowns
- Body stabilizers
- Mayo stands
- Specimen collection containers
- Desktop computers
- Surgical trocars
- Patient transport stretchers
- Fiberoptic endoscopes
- Powered surgical drills
- Eye magnets
- Personal computers
- Fluid warmers
- Patient positioning devices
- Telethermometers
- Anesthesia carts
- Sterile drapes
- Suture kits
- Vascular clamps
- Surgical razors
- Blood warming equipment
- Cell savers
- Flash sterilizers
- Cauterizing equipment
- Surgical fracture tables
- Nerve stimulators
- Urinary catheters
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- Supply documentation software
- Patient scheduling software
- MEDITECH software
- Nursing documentation software
- Surgery workflow communication software
- Microsoft Excel
- Patient tracking software