On-the-job surgical tech training

Preparing the OR with all of the necessary equipment and surgical tools. Surgical techs must be trained in preparation for surgery.

Surgeries are complex processes involving many intricate surgical tools and equipment, and depending on the specific surgery being performed, surgical techs might have to prepare a lot of materials.

Cleaning and sterilizing all equipment and tools used for surgery. Keeping the OR and all equipment and tools sterile and clean is essential for surgeries. This is a key focus of on-the-job surgical tech training.

If a hospital's OR is unclean or contaminated in some way, the hospital can face bad repercussions, including expensive lawsuits. This makes this aspect of training highly important.

Testing surgical equipment and tools. Testing surgical equipment and tools is also a critical part of training. This is key because surgical techs need to understand if something is malfunctioning or requires a replacement.

This also helps to keep everyone in the surgical department informed on the status of tools and their maintenance requirements, if necessary.

Preparation of surgical patients by disinfecting the surgical table and site. Much like keeping the tools and equipment clean, the whole OR must be disinfected.

This procedure is normally taught to surgical techs very early on. They should already understand some of these processes from their schooling.

Monitoring the surgery process and assisting the surgeon when needed. This type of training is normally done by shadowing an experienced surgical tech.

Understanding the overall surgical process of many different procedures and being able to aid the surgeon when necessary is extremely important. Surgical techs must maintain a strong focus during this aspect of their training.

Handing instruments to surgeons during surgical procedures. This is another extremely critical component of on-the-job surgical tech training.

Knowing every surgical instrument and its uses is part of the training, but surgical techs must also know what instruments to hand to surgeons during different types of surgical procedures and at different times during each procedure. This aspect involves shadowing a surgical tech too.