Circulating nurse

A surgical technologist, also called a scrub, scrub tech, surgical technician, or operating room technician, is an allied health professional working as a part of the team delivering surgical care. Surgical technologists are members of the surgical team. The members of the team include the surgeon, surgeon's assistant, circulator nurse and anesthesia provider (anesthesiologist). They possess knowledge and skills in sterile and aseptic techniques. There are few mandatory professional requirements for surgical technologists, and the scope of practice varies widely across countries and jurisdictions. Surgical technologists attend junior colleges and technical schools, and many are trained in military schools. In the military they perform the duties of both the circulator and the scrub. The goal is for surgical technologists to be able to anticipate the next move the surgeon is going to make in order to make the procedure as smooth and efficient as possible.They do this by having knowledge of hundreds of surgical procedures and the steps the surgeon needs to take in order to complete the procedure, including the very wide range of surgical instruments they may need. Specialties can include, but are not limited to, the following: genitourinary, obstetrics and gynaecology, urology, ENT, plastics, general, orthopedics, neurology, and cardiovascular. They only work in surgical or perioperative areas and are highly specialized.Surgical technologists are individuals with specialized education who function as members of the surgical team in the role of scrub person. With additional education and training, some surgical technologists function in the role of surgical first assistant. Surgical technology programs are inspected by the Accreditation Review Committee on Education in Surgical Technology—a collaborative effort of the Association of Surgical Technologists and the American College of Surgeons, under the auspices of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. Accredited programs provide both didactic education and supervised clinical experience based on a core curriculum for surgical technology.Demonstrating proper hand position and technique after gowning and before gloving A surgical technologist, also called a scrub, scrub tech, surgical technician, or operating room technician, is an allied health professional working as a part of the team delivering surgical care. Surgical technologists are members of the surgical team. The members of the team include the surgeon, surgeon's assistant, circulator nurse and anesthesia provider (anesthesiologist). They possess knowledge and skills in sterile and aseptic techniques. There are few mandatory professional requirements for surgical technologists, and the scope of practice varies widely across countries and jurisdictions. Surgical technologists attend junior colleges and technical schools, and many are trained in military schools. In the military they perform the duties of both the circulator and the scrub. The goal is for surgical technologists to be able to anticipate the next move the surgeon is going to make in order to make the procedure as smooth and efficient as possible.They do this by having knowledge of hundreds of surgical procedures and the steps the surgeon needs to take in order to complete the procedure, including the very wide range of surgical instruments they may need. Specialties can include, but are not limited to, the following: genitourinary, obstetrics and gynaecology, urology, ENT, plastics, general, orthopedics, neurology, and cardiovascular. They only work in surgical or perioperative areas and are highly specialized. In the U.S., surgical technologists are certified and work under the supervision of a surgeon, registered nurse (RN), surgeon's assistant or other surgical personnel (such as a more senior technologist), to help ensure that the operating room environment is safe, that equipment functions properly, and that the operative procedure is conducted under conditions that maximize patient safety. They handle the instruments, scrubs, sutures, various surgical sponges, from extremely small, under 0.25 in (6.4 mm) square for neurosurgical procedures, to much larger lap sponges which are used during surgical procedures in or on larger areas of the body; irrigation fluids and medication. They also perform basic tasks such as checking patients' medical charts and consent forms, and preparing sterile dressings. Surgical technologists also train other operating room personnel as a vital part of the surgical team. In Mozambique, they provide advanced surgical services, often working autonomously in the absence of a physician. In other countries, professions with similar titles include clinical officers, clinical associates, or assistant medical officers, which can mean different things subject to local circumstances. Most surgical technologists, about 60 percent in the U.S., work in hospitals, primarily in operating and delivery rooms. Surgical technologists also deal with equipment, such as handling a C-arm fluoroscope in angioplasty and orthopedics. A surgical technologist with experience in multiple specialties is often preferred. Other scrub technologists may work in offices of physicians or dentists who perform outpatient surgery and in outpatient care centers, including ambulatory surgery centers. In the U.S., depending on the role and employment setting, surgical technologists may go by different titles including scrub surgical technologist or circulating surgical technologist. A few technologists in private practices (also called 'private scrubs') are employed directly by surgeons who have special surgical teams, such as those for liver transplants. Career prospects for surgical technologists are expected to grow in the coming years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of surgical technologists is expected to grow in that country by 19 percent by 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. This trend is related to the expected rise in the number of surgical procedures performed, as the population grows and ages. Older people, including the baby boomer generation, generally require more surgical procedures and will begin to account for a larger proportion of the general population. In addition, technological advances, such as fiber optics, laser and robotic technology, will permit an increasing number of new surgical procedures to be performed and also will allow surgical technologists to participate in a greater number of procedures. The role of the surgical technologist began on the battlefields in World War I and World War II when the U.S. Army used 'medics' to work under the direct supervision of the surgeon. Concurrently, medical 'corpsman' were used in the United States Navy aboard combat ships. Nurses were not allowed aboard combat ships at the time. This led to a new profession within the military called operating room technicians (ORTs). With many medical personnel overseas or performing duties in military hospitals, an accelerated nursing program with emphasis only on operating room technology was set up as an on-the-job training of nursing assistants who worked in the surgery department. These individuals studied sterilization of instruments and how to care for the patient in the operating room. Techniques, sutures, draping and instrumentation were emphasized; they also had to do clinical time in labor and delivery and the emergency room. After the Korean War there were shortages of operating room nurses. Operating room supervisors began to recruit ex-medics and ex-corpsmen to work in civilian hospitals. These ex-military men functioned as circulators in the operating room while the scrub role or 'instrument nurse' role was performed by the registered nurse. It was not until 1965 that these roles were reversed. In 1967, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) published a book titled Teaching the Operating Room Technician. In 1968, the AORN Board of Directors created the Association of Operating Room Technicians (AORT). The AORT formed two committees in 1969, the Liaison Council on Certification for the Surgical Technologist or LCC-ST (now known as the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting or NBSTSA) and the Joint Committee on Education. The first certification examination was given in 1970, and those who passed the certification examination were given a new title: Certified Operating Room Technician (CORT).