Surgical Technician

Job Summary:

The Surgical Technician 2 plays a vital role in the interoperative phase of patient care, expediting surgical procedures under the direction and supervision of a Registered Nurse.

This position assists the surgical team by utilizing equipment and instrumentation to ensure a safe operating room environment and availability of required equipment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Discusses special needs with the surgeon before surgery and scrubs in an adequate time for proper instrument preparation.
• Prepares the operative site by aseptically cleaning and patient clipping, as needed.
• Prepares and maintains the instrument table(s) in an organized manner to avoid damage to instrumentation and incorrect needs or instrument counts.
• Identifies damaged or incomplete trays, rectifies discrepancies immediately, or contacts those who can help to avoid delays or injury.
• Sets up the operating room according to surgical procedure schedules; arranges sterile setup of instrument table supplies and equipment required for specific procedures.
• Ensures the proper functioning of surgical instruments, equipment, and supplies during surgical procedures.
• Performs surgical counts of sponges, sharps, instruments, and misc. items, according to established policies and procedures.
• Anticipates the needs of the surgeon and surgical team staff.
• Passes sterile supplies and equipment to surgeons and assistants during procedures, holds retractor devices, and acts to anticipate and respond to the surgical team's needs during the course of surgery.
• Assists the surgical team with draping and positioning the patient.
• Receives surgical specimens following specimen protocol, and passes the specimen(s) off the sterile field to the circulating nurse, verifying the source of the specimen.
• Assists with placement of surgical dressings to the operative site following surgical case completion.
• Disassembles surgical instrumentation as indicated at the end of the procedure, recycles as indicated, and appropriately disposes of sharps, fluids, and waste at the end of the surgical procedure.
• Prepares soiled instrumentation for proper transportation to the decontamination area.
• Ensures the cleaning, decontamination, sterilization, maintenance, and preparation of surgical instruments, equipment, and supplies for distribution.
• Cleans the operating room following each case, and returns equipment to appropriate storage areas.
• Follows infection control policies, Association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines, and other regulatory requirements to assure a safe work environment for self, coworkers, and patients.
• Ensures proper orientation and knowledge of all equipment and instrumentation prior to patient use.
• Maintains inventory of clean and sterilized surgical equipment, instruments, and supplies in accordance with established policies and procedures and regulatory standards.
• Collaborates and maintains control of maintenance of inventory; orders supplies, documents equipment use and cart supplies, and maintains applicable records and files.

Requirements:

• Knowledge of infection prevention and regulatory sterilization standards.
• Knowledge of the theory and application of sterile and aseptic technique.
• Knowledge of human anatomy, surgical procedures, and implementation tools and technologies to assist surgeons with invasive therapeutic and diagnostic procedures.
• Good verbal and written communication skills and interpersonal skills to interact with surgical and central sterile processing team members.
• Occasional exposure to chemical and radiation hazards.

Qualifications:

• Grad of an Accredited Program.
• Less than 1 Year of Experience.
• Certification/License/Registration: Basic Life Support (BLS): BLS or BLS within 30 days of hire or transfer. Cert Surgical Technologist (CST): CST from NBSTSA or NCCT OR Completion of formal training in ST from Military/Public Health Service OR Employed in ST role in a Healthcare facility prior to 9/1/2009.