PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Core Duties:
- Provides care and/or service to patients undergoing surgical intervention without regard to age, race, or gender.
- Assists the surgical team before, during, and after procedures.
- Reviewing supplies and equipment
- Setting up surgical equipment
- Preparing patients for surgery
- Positioning the patient
- Completing surgical skin preps
- Draping sterile field
- Maintaining sterile techniques, recognizing breaks in technique, and takes steps to regain sterility.
- Organizing and passing instruments, supplies, equipment, medication, and solutions
- Ensuring management of the surgical specimen
- Performing appropriate surgical counts with circulating nurse.
- May serve in the first or second scrub role
- Cleaning the operating rooms in preparation for subsequent surgical procedures.
- Transporting patients or specimens as necessary.
- Transporting clean and dirty equipment and supplies.
- Practices proper safety techniques in accordance with hospital and departmental policies and procedures. Immediately reports any mechanical or electrical equipment malfunctions, unsafe conditions, or employee/patient/visitor injury accident to supervisor.
- When Assigned to the Expeditor Role:
- Completes case cart with all supplies and instruments required for scheduled cases at least 30 minutes prior to subsequent scheduled case start.
- Obtains instruments used on previous case that will be needed for subsequent case and delivers to Instrument Tech for cleaning and sterilizing
- At end of case, delivers dirty case cart/instruments to appropriate soiled holding location.
- At end of case, places unused clean supplies in appropriate area
- Retrieves extra supplies and equipment that are not listed on preference card. Facilitates changes in preference card to reflect needed items
- Ensures that required equipment and supplies are on hand for scheduled cases,
- Aids with room setup
- Supports the rapid turnover of surgical procedures at the direction of OR leadership.
- Removes any unnecessary equipment, returning it to designated storage areas.
Labor and Delivery:
- Performs various patient care activities for the patient in labor including obtaining vital signs, performing catheterizations, obtaining urine specimens, performing perineal care, and performing skin preps for surgical procedures; assists patients as necessary with position changes and ambulation.
- Performs various patient care activities related to newborn care to include immediate care which involves drying, warming, and observation and performing identification, measurement (inches and pounds), eye care, bathing, and other related activities.
- Assembles equipment and supplies for procedures using aseptic techniques.
- Assists physicians and nurses during vaginal deliveries by performing various tasks including preparing and monitoring patients and operating suction and other equipment.
- Performs Surgical technologist function for surgical procedures including cesarean deliveries, tubal ligations, and hysterectomies; sets‑up sterile field, passes instruments and surgical items to physician, and performs surgical counts; and, assists with cleaning the OR rooms in preparation for subsequent surgical procedures.
- Transports patients and newborns to assigned rooms and/or nursery.
- Maintains a clean, neat, and safe environment which involves, but is not limited to, such activities as tidying rooms, cleaning equipment, restocking linens and other supplies and materials (in assigned areas and as otherwise necessary), preparing rooms, and keeping utility and equipment rooms, and hallways neat and clean.
- Obtains information as necessary to initiate routine admission procedure.
Turnover Tech:
- May bring case carts to rooms, checks supplies and equipment in preparation for subsequent procedures.
- May assist with moving the patient and cleaning the OR room in preparation for subsequent surgical procedures.
- May bring all supplies and equipment for next case into the room. Places all supplies and equipment in appropriate places and opens rooms.
- Safety: Performs appropriate pre‑ and post‑surgical counts with circulating nurse.
Specialty-Specific Duties – Ophthalmology:
- Supports the Ophthalmology service in both the outpatient surgery center, as well as the main hospital for those patients who do not meet criteria for an outpatient surgery center.
- Ophthalmology Surgical Technologists are expected to take call to support the Ophthalmology service for emergent cases that occur in the main hospital Monday through Friday after 7PM, on weekends, and holidays.
ADDITIONAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Assists in the ongoing identification, development and administration of hospital and department Quality Improvement program.
- Assists in leading unit-based quality improvement initiatives.
- Assists with special projects as directed by leadership.
- Provides clinical experience and instruction for student programs and may provide written and verbal evaluations of student performance.
- Develops expertise in the functioning, use, and maintenance of equipment and instruments in assigned surgical specialty. Ensures equipment is available and works properly and performs minor repairs as needed.
- Trains and serves as a preceptor for new surgical technologist staff and surgical technologist students and surgical tech externs. May assist in training staff in the use, maintenance, and minor repair of equipment used in surgical specialty (including ophthalmology, if applicable).
