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Surgical Technologists

Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.
    • Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.
    • Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.
    • Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card.
    • Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
    • Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.
    • Observe patients' vital signs to assess physical condition.
    • Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.
    • Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.
    • Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
    • Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.
    • Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.
    • Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
    • Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure.
    • Order surgical supplies.
    • Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists.
    • Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.
    • Maintain files and records of surgical procedures.
    • Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
    • Maintain supply of fluids, such as plasma, saline, blood, or glucose, for use during operations.
    • Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card.

    Skills

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    4
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    Knowledge

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 58930/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 28.33/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 4,030
    • Yearly Projected Openings 250

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Self Control
    • Integrity
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Adaptability/Flexibility

    Tools

    • Autotransfusion units
    • Central venous catheters
    • Chemical or gas sterilizers
    • Coronary stents
    • Cryosurgery units
    • Desktop computers
    • Electronic blood pressure units
    • Electrosurgical or electrocautery equipment
    • Endoscopic clamp or dissector or grasper or forceps
    • Endoscopic equipment or procedure carts
    • Endoscopic video cameras or recorders or adapters or accessories
    • Eyemagnets for ophthalmic surgery
    • Gas anesthesia apparatus or machines
    • General surgical instrument sets
    • General surgical supply set accessories
    • Heart and lung machines
    • Instrument tables for surgical or obstetrical delivery use
    • Intravenous or arterial fluid warmers
    • Lap mayo trays or mayo stands for surgical use
    • Laparoscopes or laparoscopic telescopes
    • Medical cinefluoroscopy units
    • Medical equipment and instrument disinfectant washing equipment
    • Medical exam or surgical headlights or headlamps
    • Medical imaging dry laser printers or imagers
    • Medical picture archiving computer systems PACS
    • Medical staplers for external use
    • Medical staplers for internal use
    • Medical syringes without needle
    • Medical ultrasound or doppler or echocardiograph transducer accessories
    • Medical x ray units for general diagnostic use
    • Mercury blood pressure units
    • Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
    • Notebook computers
    • Operating room patient fracture tables or orthopedic tables
    • Operating room patient positioning devices for general use
    • Oxygen insufflators
    • Patient stretchers
    • Personal computers
    • Pleural cavity drainage units or containers
    • Resuscitation kits
    • Specimen collection container
    • Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
    • Sterilization cabinets
    • Surgical clamps or clips or forceps
    • Surgical dermatomes or dermabraders or dermameshers
    • Surgical dilators
    • Surgical dissectors
    • Surgical drains or drain sets
    • Surgical drapes
    • Surgical elevators or levers
    • Surgical equipment stands
    • Surgical instrument holders or positioners
    • Surgical lasers
    • Surgical lithotripters
    • Surgical microscopes or loupes or magnifiers
    • Surgical navigation system accessories
    • Surgical needle holders
    • Surgical nerve stimulators
    • Surgical pneumatic or battery or electric saws or drills or pin drivers
    • Surgical pneumatic or electric tourniquets
    • Surgical power equipment sets
    • Surgical probes or directors
    • Surgical retractors
    • Surgical scalpels or knives or blades or trephines
    • Surgical smoke evacuators
    • Surgical suction machine or vacuum extractor or ultrasonic surgical aspirator
    • Surgical vacuum extraction devices or curettes or related products
    • Suture needles
    • Suturing kits or trays or packs or sets
    • Tablet computers
    • Therapeutic heating or cooling blankets or drapes
    • Therapeutic heating or cooling units or systems
    • Tourniquets
    • Tracheostomy tubes
    • Ultrasonic cleaning equipment
    • Urological surgical catheter accessories
    • Vascular sequential compression devices or tubing
    • Vein harvest kits or systems
    • Video cassette players or recorders
    • Wheelchairs

    Technology

    • Cloud-based data access and sharing software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Internet browser software
    • Medical software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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