Operating room technicians are a valuable part of any surgical team. Their skills and knowledge are absolutely critical to the smooth running of any operating room suite. Operating rooms require a team approach for success. All the members of the team have one focus, a successful conclusion to the surgical procedure. A short list of the tasks that the Operating Room Technician (ORT) is responsible for includes: pulling all the sterilized instruments for the case, handing the surgeon instruments as needed and anticipating any additional supplies as the case progresses, and helping move the patient as needed. At the end of the procedure the ORT cleans the surgical instruments and prepares for the next case.
Also called a surgical technologist and scrub tech, the ORT must be able to stand in one place for several hours, lift at least 30 pounds, handle tense situations well, and work well with several different personality types. Temperatures in the operating room can be very cool, but they can also be very warm depending upon the needs of the patient. Lastly, the ORT must be able to maintain patient confidentiality. If this career sounds interesting, read up on how to become an operating room technician.
- Obtain the educational requirements: Employers require completion of a surgical technician training program. These programs vary in length between 9 and 24 months. Diploma and certificates take less class time to obtain, while the associate’s degree takes the longest to obtain. Some schools even offer online learning. The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) should approve coursework. Coursework will include anatomy, pathology, physiology, pharmacology, medical terminology and medical ethics. If you are enrolling in this training program, you must have your high school diploma or its equivalent.
- Get certification: After graduation, the majority of work places will require certification from the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA) or the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT). When you pass the individual certification exams and satisfy training and experience requirements, NBSTSA will award you with a title of Certified Surgical Technologist. NCCT has several different paths to certification with the end result being a Tech in Surgery-Certified. To maintain your certification, you will have to pursue continuing education.
- Develop the required skills: As with any job, the more cases you participate in, the better your skills will become. Getting exposed to as many different types of cases as possible will increase marketability in the years to come. Working in a big hospital right out of school is a great choice. This allows the ORT to see many different levels of cases from routine appendectomies, to open heart surgery, to massive trauma cases. All of these cases need the same attention to detail; and working with a variety of surgeons will help the ORT learn different approaches to surgical problems.
- Find surgical technician jobs: The demand for operating room technicians is expected to increase by 20% in the coming decade. Around 70% of ORTs work in the hospital setting. The rest work in surgeon’s offices and outpatient surgical centers. Some ORTs even work for dentists. Other ORTs continue with training and become first assistants for a specific surgeon. The job market looks strong for all the various ORT career paths so choose whichever one is most appealing to you.
- Salary: The average salary for operating room technicians is $40,000. This is totally dependant upon location and size of the facility. An ORT first assistant will make more, however the salary again depends upon the area of the country employed and the size of the surgeon’s practice. In addition to salary, this job also provides the security of finding a job if you or your spouse needs to relocate. That is no small fete in this job market.
The career path for operating room technicians can start with a diploma and you can advance as far as you’d like to go. Educational opportunities for advancement are numerous. Specialization is common and can include such areas as open heart, neurosurgical suite, obstetrics and trauma. This very interesting career has huge learning and earning potential.