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Surgical Assistants

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons. May, in accordance with state laws, help surgeons to make incisions and close surgical sites, manipulate or remove tissues, implant surgical devices or drains, suction the surgical site, place catheters, clamp or cauterize vessels or tissue, and apply dressings to surgical site.

Related: Anesthesiologist Assistants Emergency Medical Technicians Medical Assistants Paramedics Surgical Technologists

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Transport patients to operating room.
Remove patient hair or disinfect incision sites to prepare patient for surgery.
Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.
Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
Operate sterilizing devices.
Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate exposure for the procedure or to protect against nerve damage or circulation impairment.
Coordinate or participate in the positioning of patients, using body stabilizing equipment or protective padding to provide appropriate exposure for the procedure or to protect against nerve damage or circulation impairment.
Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
Assist in applying casts, splints, braces, or similar devices.
Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
Assist in volume replacement or autotransfusion techniques.
Discuss with surgeon the nature of the surgical procedure, including operative consent, methods of operative exposure, diagnostic or laboratory data, or patient-advanced directives or other needs.
Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.

Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
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.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
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.
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.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

69060/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

33.2/hr

Currently Employed

22,700

Yearly Projected Openings

1500

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Self Control
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Concern for Others

Autotransfusion units
Blanket or solution warmer cabinets
Blood warming or transfusion systems
Cardiac output CO monitoring units
Cardiac pacemaker generators or cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers CRT-P
Cast cutters or saws
Chemical or gas sterilizers
Desktop computers
Diagnostic or interventional vascular catheters for general use
Electronic medical thermometers
Electrosurgical or electrocautery equipment
Endoscopic hemostatic balloons or needles or tubes or accessories
Endoscopic instrument sets
Endoscopic video cameras or recorders or adapters or accessories
Eyemagnets for ophthalmic surgery
Goggles
Hospital intercom systems
Hypodermic injection apparatus
Intravenous or arterial fluid warmers
Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits
Lap mayo trays or mayo stands for surgical use
Laparoscopes or laparoscopic telescopes
Medical carts
Medical imaging dry laser printers or imagers
Medical staff isolation or cover gowns
Medical staplers for internal use
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
Operating room patient procedure tables
Pagers
Patient stretchers
Personal computers
Special purpose telephones
Specimen collection container
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Surgical clamps or clips or forceps
Surgical dermatomes or dermabraders or dermameshers
Surgical drains or drain sets
Surgical drapes
Surgical gloves
Surgical isolation or surgical masks
Surgical lasers
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 retractors
Surgical scalpels or knives or blades or trephines
Surgical shave kits or prep razors or clippers
Surgical suction machine or vacuum extractor or ultrasonic surgical aspirator
Surgical trocars for general use
Suturing kits or trays or packs or sets
Therapeutic heating or cooling units or systems
Urinary catheterization kits