The Surgical Technologist is part of the team who help the doctors, nurses and other operating room workers.
Primary Objective:
- The Surgical Technologist helps to prepare the patient before surgery by washing, shaving, and disinfecting the intended areas of operation.
- The Surgical Technologist is responsible to clean and set up the surgical equipment.
- The Surgical Technologist transports the patient to the operating room, positioning them on the operating table.
- The Surgical Technologist will then cover the patient with surgical drapes.
The Surgical Technologist is responsible to set up the operating room with instruments and supplies. The Surgical Technologist helps the team scrub in and put on their gowns, gloves, and masks. The Surgical Technologist help during the surgery, they hand instruments and supplies to the proper surgeons. The Surgical Technologist may assist in monitoring the patient’s vital signs. The Surgical Technologist is responsible to keep track of the surgeon’s instruments. The Surgical Technologist may also help prepare samples of tissues or organs that will be tested in a laboratory. The Surgical Technologist must have knowledge to operate some of the machines that is in the operating room. The surgeon may call upon the Surgical Technologist to operate some of the machinery during the surgery.
When the operation is over the Surgical Technologist then will take the patient to the recovery room. The Surgical Technologist then returns to the operating room where they clean the room sterilize it and then restore it back to its normal readiness. In this way the room is prepared for the next surgery so no matter what Surgical Technologist is preparing the patient the surgery room is ready. The Surgical Technician keeps monitoring the patient in the recovery room until the patient is able to return to their own room. The work of the Surgical Technologist is very important and they must know exactly what to do in case of emergency situations during the surgery.
Surgical Technicians receive formal training in vocational and technical schools, hospitals, and community colleges. The Surgical Technologists training programs, which provide both classroom training and supervised clinical experience, last from nine months to two years. The Surgical Technician must lead to certificate or a degree. The Surgical Technicians must take a variety of courses including anatomy, medical terminology, and professional ethics. The Surgical Technologist must learn how to sterilize instruments, handle drugs and control infections. The Surgical Technologist must be certified by two organizations. The Surgical Technologist must be a Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) or a Tech or a Tech in Surgery-Certified (TS-C). The Surgical Technologist must maintain the certification by getting recertified on a regular basis. The Surgical Technologist does not need to be certified in order to get the job but most employers do require that the Surgical Technologist be recertified immediately after hire.
The work that the Surgical Technologist performs is as vital as the work of the surgeon. The Surgical Technologist must make sure that the patient is not in danger of any kind of infection. Infection will kill a patient if not prevented or if measures are not taken to help the patient get over the infection. The patient is normally very apprehensive about surgery and the Surgical Technologist duty is to try to make them feel as comfortable as possible. In order to prepare a patient not only is the physical preparation important but the patient must be made at ease trying to relieve stress. Stress and anxiety are very harmful to a patient during surgery. Normally, the patient is given a sedative to help relieve some of this stress but the Surgical Technologist usually talks with the patient to help them become at ease before the surgery.
The Surgical Technologist must make sure that the patient is prepared physically by shaving and cleaning the area that the surgery will be done. Then the Surgical Technologist must make sure that the area has been disinfected just before the surgery. The Surgical Technologist must make sure that the operating table is prepared and that the patient is properly draped with the operating covers. While the patient is having the surgery the Surgical Technologist usually assists the surgeon by handing them their instruments etc. Then the Surgical Technologist removes the patient to the recovery room after the surgery is completed.