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