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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

Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
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.
Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
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.
Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
Transport patients to operating room.
Assist in volume replacement or autotransfusion techniques.
Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
Adjust and maintain operating room temperature, humidity, or lighting, according to surgeon's specifications.
Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
Adjust and maintain operating room temperature, humidity, or lighting, according to surgeon's specifications.
Assist in applying casts, splints, braces, or similar devices.
Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
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.
Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings.
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.
Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.
Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
Remove patient hair or disinfect incision sites to prepare patient for surgery.
Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
Operate sterilizing devices.

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

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

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

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