Surgical Assistants

• Verify the identity of patient or operative site.

• 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.
• Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
• Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems.
• Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
• Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures.
• Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning.
• Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies.
• 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.
• Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
• Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment.
• Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
• Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.
• Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
• Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
• Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers.
• 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.

No durable tasks identified for this role — its real, individually-assessed tasks consistently read as augmentable (95%).