Job Description

Overview

JOB SUMMARY: A clinically competent certified surgical technologist who works under the supervision of the registered nurse in delivering safe and effective care to the patient during the intraoperative period, interacts with patients and health care team members while mainlining the surgical department standards, scrubs all specialties including open heart and spine/neuro with appropriate handling of instruments and equipment for the surgeons.

Responsibilities

Clinical & Surgical Performance

• Advanced Surgical Scrubbing: Performs scrubbing duties for complex surgical procedures, including open-heart and spine/neuro cases, in strict compliance with departmental policies.
• Aseptic Technique: Applies advanced principles of aseptic technique appropriately during all surgical interventions and sterile field setup.
• Surgical Counts: Accurately performs all sponge, needle, and sharps counts at appropriate pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative intervals according to departmental standards.
• Instrumentation & Equipment: Demonstrates proper utilization of surgical instruments, equipment, suturing, and stapling devices. Prepares instrumentation aligned with physician Physician Preference Cards (PPCs) and scheduled procedures.
• Medication & Specimen Handling: Labels all medications and solutions on the sterile field. Properly identifies, saves, and hands off specimens to the circulating nurse with clear verbal verification of source and name.

Patient Care Support & Pre-Operative Preparation

• Care Planning & Information Gathering: Assists circulating RNs in obtaining nursing care information and developing comprehensive patient care plans.
• Patient Preparation: Assumes responsibility for completing patient preparation for surgical interventions and special procedures, identifying behavioral changes or patient care concerns promptly.
• Anesthesia & Closure Support: Provides instrumentation and equipment prior to anesthesia induction; assists during procedure closure by offering timely status updates and instrument assessments.

Operational Efficiency, Leadership & Administration

• Staff Training & Mentorship: Trains and mentors new scrub staff to a competent performance level.
• Preference Card Management: Evaluates, updates, and documents physician preference cards regarding sutures, equipment, and special requests in a timely manner.
• Documentation & Compliance: Provides accurate information for O.R. Nursing Records and signs documentation promptly. Adheres to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) standards and chain-of-command reporting protocols.

Call Coverage & Worksite Maintenance: Participates in call rotations with a 30-minute response time; maintains clean, orderly operating rooms; regularly attends departmental in-service meetings.

Qualifications

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, TRAINING

High school graduate.

Surgical Technology School graduate.

Must have a current BCLS.

Must have a National Surgical Technologist Certificate.