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