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Surgical Assistants

	Median Wage (USD, 2025)	Projected Job Openings (2025-2035)	Projected Growth (2025-2035)
National Statistics	$66800	1600	5.1%
State Statistics	-	-	-
City Statistics	-	-	-

Statistics

National

State

City

State

City

$66800

Median Wage (USD, 2025)

1600

Projected Job Openings (2025-2035)

5.1%

Projected Growth (2025-2035)

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.

Experience Requirements Overview

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate

Related Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year

On-the-Job Training: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year

Detailed Work Activities

Adjust settings or positions of medical equipment.
Adjust building climate control systems.
Operate on patients to treat conditions.
Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
Monitor patients following surgeries or other treatments.
Assess skin or hair conditions.
Assist healthcare practitioners during surgery.
Maintain sterile operative fields.
Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment.
Protect patients or staff members using safety equipment.
Position patients for treatment or examination.
Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities.
Administer anesthetics or sedatives to control pain.
Administer intravenous medications.
Apply bandages, dressings, or splints.
Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries.
Administer blood or other fluids intravenously.
Implement advanced life support techniques.
Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
Prepare medical supplies or equipment for use.
Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
Examine medical instruments or equipment to ensure proper operation.
Sterilize medical equipment or instruments.
Prepare patients physically for medical procedures.
Move patients to or from treatment areas.
Verify accuracy of patient information.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

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

Work Styles

Innovation

A tendency to be inventive, to be imaginative, and to adopt new perspectives on ways to accomplish work.

Achievement Orientation

Intellectual Curiosity

Tolerance for Ambiguity

Initiative

Adaptability

Self-Confidence

Perseverance

Leadership Orientation

Humility

Sincerity

Empathy

Cooperation

Optimism

Social Orientation

Cautiousness

Attention to Detail

Dependability

Integrity

Stress Tolerance

Self-Control

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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