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