A surgical technologist (ST) is a member of the surgical team who works together with the health professionals to ensure that all the medical operation procedures are conducted under the ideal conditions. A surgical technologist’s need to possess the following vital facets to building them up, accountability, responsibility, promptness, assertiveness, and teamwork. The team functions under the non-sterile capacities, which are the circulator and anesthetic providers, and sterile team who includes the surgeon, their assistants, and the surgical technologist.
The surgical technologist plays a vital role in the three phases of the surgical patient care with little supervision. All the members of the team should have honesty and moral integrity for them to be able to protect against the pathogenic organism or remove them and ensure the sterility of all the medical equipment. They should be caring for the patient, colleagues and the environment by providing patient care (Fuller & Armistead, 2013, p.13). They should understand the organization of human body with their functionalities, diseases affecting the patient, the planned medical procedures, and deviations required to accommodate the particular patient. They perform the sterile functions during the surgical procedure and non-sterile duties as well.
The preoperative role of the ST involves preparing the operating room for the surgery. They list and gather all the required equipment and supplies for the operation and transport them to the operating room (OR) and arrange them in their proper positions. They should include all the details, considering if the surgeon’s preferences are right or left handed, it determines how the room is organized (Husain, 2014, p.31). They create, organize and maintain a sterile field for use. Once the preparation is complete, they put on sterile attire for operation and the personal protective equipment for the safety of the professionals and the patient. Once the patient is in the OR, they apply the sterile drapes around the patient.
The intra-operative roles of the ST include the maintenance of the sterile field and passing instrumentations as well as the requirements that aid in the operation of the surgeon and surgical assistants are required. They are supposed to know the names of all the medical instruments. They need to think ahead of a survey, forecast the needs of the patient and the surgeon and provide them according to the urgency and importance of the need. Additionally, they handle the medication, prepare all the required specimens and conduct the dressing application.
The postoperative role of ST includes the following; they assist in applying bandages to the patient and maintain the sterile environment until the patient leaves the operating room. After that, they remove all the used tools from the OR and clean them to lower the risks of infections. Cleaning includes preparing the OR and the equipment for the next patient. They should care and maintain the equipment and supplies following use.
The surgical technologist must be in a position to work quickly and accurately and have the commitment to details. Activates must be integrated according to priorities when there are pressures and emergencies (McNaron et al., 2014). Therefore, they should not be easily irritable or angry and demonstrate the values of being responsible with considerable patience. They should be sensitive to patient needs, colleagues and have an ultimate goal. Notably, they should have a strong desire to assist and make a positive impact on the community as a whole.
References
Fuller, J. R., & Armistead, J. (2013). Surgical technology: Principles and practice. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders.
Husain, A. M. (2014). A Practical Approach to Neurophysiologic Intra-operative Monitoring. New York: Demos Medical Publishing.
McNaron, M. E., Junge, T. L., Grafft, D., Hammer, W. D., & Association of Surgical Technologists. (2014). Study guide and lab manual to accompany Surgical technology for the surgical technologist: A positive care approach, fourth edition.
