Surgical Aide

Surgical Assistant

Under the clinical supervision of a Registered Nurse and direction of the Assistant Nurse Manager, to assist with patient preparation, transportation, and to prepare the assigned operating/procedure rooms with the instruments, supplies and equipment required for the surgical procedure to be performed while working in an environment defined by sterile and unsterile areas.

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Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (SCVH) is the second largest public health care system in California and includes three acute care hospitals, 14 clinics and 60+ specialty and sub-specialty services. Our mission is to provide high-quality, accessible healthcare and excellent service to everyone in Santa Clara County.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center - SCVMC is a full-service tertiary acute care teaching hospital with 699 licensed beds providing a wide range of specialized services, including Rehabilitation, Burn, Trauma, and NICU. SCVMC was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as #6 Rehabilitation Hospital in the nation and #1 in the West and designated as a 2024 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care, Heart Failure, Stroke, Hip Fracture, and Pneumonia.

O'Connor Hospital - O'Connor Hospital (OCH) is a 358 licensed bed acute care facility offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient medical, surgical and specialty programs to residents of Santa Clara County. It was founded in 1889 as one of the first hospitals in the county. OCH has grown significantly over the past five years in both its inpatient volume and its Emergency Department visits. Along with these volume increases other ancillary and clinical departments like imaging, lab, pharmacy, and respiratory have seen growth as well.

St. Louise Regional Hospital - Since 1989, St. Louise Regional Hospital (SLRH) has been caring for the residents in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties, offering a wide range of inpatient and outpatient medical specialties. SLRH has 93 beds, is a Designated Primary Stroke Center, and is the only acute care hospital in the area. Located in Gilroy, SLRH maintains a CALSTAR 2 emergency helicopter base on the premises.

Regional Medical Center – Regional Medical Center (RMC) is a 258-bed hospital that is the main emergency healthcare provider for East San José, treating a wide range of critical and life-threatening conditions for more than 60 years. Since the SCVH integration of RMC effective 4/1/25, RMC has expanded the critical services including Level II trauma, Thrombectomy capable Stroke Center and STEMI care, and has been seeing an increased number of emergency visits and inpatient volume.

Typical Tasks

Case preparation (patient, surgeon, and procedure specific):

• Matches scheduled procedure to surgical preference list;
• Gathers instruments and supplies listed on surgical preference list;
• Checks surgical preference list for completeness and locates and prepares missing items;
• Checks for and assures required speciality equipment is available;
• Room preparation;
• Positions operating room table (bed) for surgical procedure;
• Makes bed;
• Brings in all supplies, instruments and equipment needed for the scheduled procedure;
• Unwraps sterile supplies and instruments using aseptic technique;
• Aseptically places unwrapped sterile items onto a sterile field;
• Positions nonsterile equipment appropriately for scheduled surgical procedure;
• Transports "flash" sterilized instruments aseptically to surgical suite;

Patient preparation:

• Assists and/or transports patient from nursing unit/holding area to assigned operating/procedure room;
• Assists in transportation of patients from the surgical suite directly to the Intensive Care Unit/Observation Unit;
• Helps transfer patient from transport gurney to the surgical/procedure table;
• Helps secure patient with safety straps to surgical/procedure table;
• Under direction of the RN or MD, assists with positioning the patient for the surgery/procedure scheduled;
• Performs shave preps on cardiac patients;

Intraoperative assistance:

• Helps transfer sedated post-surgical patients from surgical/procedure table to transport gurney or bed;
• Obtains ('runs for') extra supplies, instruments and equipment needed by the surgical team;
• Sterilizes instruments for immediate use, using the sterilization and chemical disinfection methods and equipment or gravity displacement autoclave;
• Transports sterilized instruments aseptically to surgical suite/procedure room;
• Picks up blood from transfusion service, documents, and places blood in blood refrigerator;
• Takes blood from the OR blood refrigerator to surgical suite when directed to do so by the RN or MD;
• Documents and returns unused blood to the transfusion service upon patient transfer from OR or PACU to nursing unit;
• Processes orders for dire (life threatening) and stat (extreme emergency) supplies from sterile processing and cart staging via the computer system as needed and picks up or ensures their timely arrival to the surgical suite;
• Transports specimens to the correct lab using proper precautions;
• Transports dire lab results from front desk to surgical suite;

Post operative Room Preparation, adhering to blood born pathogen precautionary measures:

• Strips linen from surgical/procedure table;
• Removes linen and garbage bags from room;
• Cleans all specialty equipment/instruments with germicide;
• Removes specialty equipment/instruments not required by the next surgical procedure;
• Checks and when necessary, changes compressed gas tanks for next procedure or before returning to storage area;
• Washes all surfaces with germicide;
• Replaces suction canisters, linen bags and garbage bags;
• Returns room furnishings to usual set up;
• Restocks room supplies at end of the surgical day;
• May return used case cart with dirty instruments and garbage to decontamination room;
• Washes and prepares scopes for chemical disinfection or Sterrad (sterilization) or other sterilization equipment for speciality procedures;

Organization and time management:

• Anticipates and prioritizes time regarding required instruments, scopes, equipment and supplies needed for next scheduled procedure;
• Prepares surgical case cart for all assigned procedures;
• Accurately prepares instruments, supplies, and equipment kept in the department for unscheduled emergencies and add-on procedures;

Additional duties as assigned:

• Checks, changes gauges, and prepares compressed gas tanks for pick up or exchange;
• Fills designated warmers with sterile solution and linen;
• Submits daily linen order;
• Restocks linens;
• Checks and restocks scrub sink area masks, scrub brushes and other required supplies;
• Unloads and shelves supplies in designated areas;
• Prepares linen packs for post-op room preparation;
• Keeps hallways and storage areas neat and clear;
• Dusts and treats surgical suites with alcohol, supply shelving and carts weekly;
• Picks up food order on a daily basis;
• May be assigned as a Disaster Service Worker, as required;
• Assists with other assigned duties and projects;

Employment Standards

The knowledge and abilities are acquired through possession of a high school diploma or the equivalent and one (1) year of experience in an acute care setting demonstrating the ability to perform tasks similar to patient and surgical preparation duties in an environment defined by sterile and unsterile areas. Completion of a recognized formal training program in Surgical Technology may be substituted for the required experience. Possession of current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification issued by the American Heart Association or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) issued by the American Red Cross is required upon appointment.

Knowledge of:

• Basic medical terminology;
• Basic anatomy;
• Aseptic technique;
• Medical equipment, supplies, and instruments required for different types of surgeries;
• Basic hospital organization;
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