Surgical Technicians are a valued part of a surgical team at any hospital or surgical center. These individuals are trained and often certified to do the job at hand. But what exactly is that job.
In New York, as with the rest of the country, the Surgical Technician assists in the operating suite and helps to make the entire process as sterile as possible. The Surgical Technician ensures that the suite is safe for the patient and doctors before the operation begins by placing the appropriate equipment in the room. This includes ensuring that the equipment is sterile and that the sterile drapes are in place.
The surgical technicians in New York also prepare the patient by washing, shaving and disinfecting the surgical site on the patient prior to surgery. This helps to limit the chances of infection greatly, especially such bacterial infections such as Staph infections. Once the patient is ready, it is the surgical technician’s job to transport the patient and to place the drapes to keep the sterile area clean. Once this is complete, the surgical technician then assists the doctors into their surgical gowns and monitor the vital signs of the patient during the procedure.
Other duties that a New York Surgical Technician may encounter include passing instruments to the doctors or doctor’s assistants. The technician is also responsible for ensuring the same number of sponges and sharps that went into the patient came out of the patient. There are some instances that the surgical technician may be asked to hold a retractor or assist in a minor way with a surgical procedure. There are also incidents where the surgical technician is asked to operate equipment during the procedure or asked to re-sterile something that may have come into contact with a non-sterile surface.
Certified Surgical Technicians in New York may be asked to be the circulating technician who is the “nonsterile” party in the room. This individual is responsible for interviewing the patient before the procedure and for opening the packaging of sterile equipment for the “sterile” individuals. Keeping a written account of the procedure as well as answering questions about the patient is also job responsibilities that a circulating surgical technician can get.
Certified Surgical Technicians in New York can also be asked to be a surgical first assistant. This is an individual who is able to assist the doctors with the prevention or management of a hemorrhage or other difficulties. These practices are never done without the supervision of a doctor, but can be handled by the surgical technician safely. central sterile processing technician