Surgical Technician III

Job Description

Job Summary:

• Under general supervision in the capacity of a Surgical Technician III, provides technical assistance to operating room physicians and nurses performing difficult and complex surgical procedures.
• Surgical Technician III will have a primary designated service line.
• They will have expertise and competencies specific to the service line.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Utilizes physician’s preference cards to assist in preparing the operating room for the surgical procedure.
• Assists in maintaining and updating preference cards.
• Maintains an adequate supply of instruments and supplies to meet the patient’s changing needs.
• Scrubs in and sets up instruments and supplies prior to procedure.
• Prepares sterile field by obtaining, opening, and arranging instruments and supplies anticipated for the procedure.
• Assists in draping the patient and operative area.
• With nurse, opens and prepares the sterile field.
• Assists the nurse in correct identification of operative specimens for laboratory analysis.
• Remains attentive during surgery and provides additional instruments, supplies or other items as needed.
• Remains attentive to sterile field and recognizes and corrects breaks in sterile technique.
• Delivers medications to the surgeon.
• Participates in sponge, needle and instrument counts as directed by policy.
• Reports all drains, packs, implants, etc., to the circulating nurse and assists with application of dressings.
• Informs appropriate personnel of any potential problems regarding patient or procedure.
• Takes emergency action as required.
• Assists with post-operative processing of instruments and equipment.
• Cleans operating room areas and disposes of sharps from sterile field according to policy.
• Participates in evaluation of new products, methods or equipment to determine quality.
• Serves as clinical resource for physicians and for staff in other departments.
• Conducts daily discussions with the Supervisor regarding service line needs.
• This may include equipment issues, instrument needs and supply shortages.
• Acts as a liaison between physicians and Supervisor regarding instruments and supplies.
• Works with other departments and vendors to learn about new equipment and ensure that tools and supplies are updated.
• Assists in the training of Surgical Technicians.
• Assists with patient transport as needed.
• If assigned to the Labor and Delivery unit incumbent may be required to perform a variety of clerical and technical direct patient care activities.
• Performs related work as required.

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to climb, kneel and perform duties under stressful situations.
• May involve lifting and carrying of objects.
• Requires considerable walking, standing, pushing and pulling.
• Requires ability to stand for up to 6 hours per day.
• Requires excellent manual dexterity in order to handle instruments and equipment.
• Requires sufficient visual acuity to perform required tasks.
• Occasional requirement to push/pull up to 100 pounds.
• Requires ability to move or position patients.
• Very frequent exposure to needles and other sharp objects.
• Very frequent exposure to blood, body fluids and communicable disease.

Experience:

• 2 years of relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of medical asepsis as it applies to the operating room; of various instruments used for each type of surgical procedures; of proper set-up of operating room; of correct method of handling instruments and supplies to surgeon; of proper handling of tissue specimens, cultures and smears; of inventory methods.
• Skill in maintaining an effective working relationship with others; in following technical written and verbal instructions; in scrubbing for all specialty areas.
• Surgical Technician III must demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the patients served by his or her service.
• The Surgical Technician III must demonstrate knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the lifespan and possess the ability to assess data reflective of the patient’s status; and to interpret the appropriate information needed to identify each patient’s requirements relative to his or her age-specific needs; and to provide the care needed by the appropriate patient age group (neonate, pediatric, adolescent, adult, geriatric).
• Must have sufficient computer skills to check and respond to emails and edit preference cards.