What does an operating room technician do?
An operating room technician is responsible for assisting in the operating room procedures, ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of the room, inspecting the condition of machines before the operation, and preparing medical tools and equipment accordingly. Operating room technicians guide the patients throughout the surgical procedures, instructing them as necessary regarding the processes. They also monitor the adequacy of surgical supplies inventory and write request reports for purchase. An operating room technician must have excellent communication and organizational skills, as well as the ability to multitask to attend to different patients' needs within a strict, demanding time.
Operating room technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real operating room technician resumes:
- Work collaboratively with surgeons, anesthesiologist, and nursing staff in patients elective surgical procedures to achieve optimum patient outcomes.
- Maintain cleanliness and orderliness of the operating rooms according to proper protocols to ensure a sterile environment in preparation for surgery.
- Develop mathematics and language arts skills.
- Clean stretchers and beds and replace sheets.
- Assist with stating iv's on baby's.
- Clean and prepare stretchers, wheelchairs, and patient rooms.
- Pass instruments and assist with suturing or anything else that DR. need.
- Perform duties as a scrub, with an emphasis as lead urology tech.
- Follow the HIPPA guidelines every time you encounter private patient information during job duties.
- Start IVs and administer any preoperative medications order such as antibiotics and eye drops.
- Scrub and assist in open-heart, neuro, general, ortho and other services as needed.
- Serve as senior surgical tech as well as assisted on general, orthopedic, urology, and OB/ GYN
- Scrub in all orthopedic, general, urology, podiatry, plastics, GI, GYN, and ENT procedures.
- Assist in a wide variety of surgical procedures including general, urology, orthopedic, podiatry, plastic and neurosurgery.
- Inventory control of supplies for the department that includes nursery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, labor and delivery departments.
Operating room technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Operating Room Technicians are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Surgical Procedures. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Integrity, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Operating Room Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 21%
Established and maintained interpersonal relationships with patients, visitors and other hospital personal, while assuring confidentiality of patient information.
- Patient Care, 13%
Facilitated quality patient care and assisted nursing staff in performing nursing procedures.
- Surgical Procedures, 10%
Provide surgical technician support for surgical operations ranging from minor surgical procedures to more complex and extensive surgical procedures.
- Surgical Technologist, 8%
Selected by Assistant Director of Operating Room to receive on-the-job training to become surgical technologist.
- Aseptic Technique, 6%
Maintain and monitor aseptic technique during surgery.
- Sponges, 4%
Assisted doctors by handing them needed instruments during surgery, counted sponges, and needles before and after the operation.
Most operating room technicians use their skills in "patients," "patient care," and "surgical procedures" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential operating room technician responsibilities here:
Dexterity. One of the key soft skills for an operating room technician to have is dexterity. You can see how this relates to what operating room technicians do because "surgical assistants and technologists should be comfortable working with their hands." Additionally, an operating room technician resume shows how operating room technicians use dexterity: "specialized in orthopedics, podiatry, hands, and plastics. "
Integrity. Many operating room technician duties rely on integrity. "because they are trusted to help during surgical procedures, surgical assistants and technologists must be ethical and honest.," so an operating room technician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways operating room technician responsibilities rely on integrity: "applied moral, legal and ethical principles during patient care performed the duties of scrub during surgeries. "
Listening skills. operating room technicians are also known for listening skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to operating room technician responsibilities, because "responding to requests from surgeons and others on the surgical team requires the ability to listen to and understand spoken directions." An operating room technician resume example shows how listening skills is used in the workplace: "communicated medical concepts to patients to facilitate understanding. "
Detail oriented. For certain operating room technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "detail oriented." The day-to-day duties of an operating room technician rely on this skill, as "surgical assistants and technologists must pay close attention to their work." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what operating room technicians do: "organized and communicated highly detailed planning and time management objectives within the operating room to ensure efficiency and quality patient care. "
Physical stamina. A commonly-found skill in operating room technician job descriptions, "physical stamina" is essential to what operating room technicians do. Operating room technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "surgical assistants and technologists should be comfortable standing for extended periods." You can also see how operating room technician duties rely on physical stamina in this resume example: "meet the physical and comfort needs of patients. "
The three companies that hire the most operating room technicians are:
- Nomad Health1,055 operating room technicians jobs
- ProAmpac74 operating room technicians jobs
- Soliant73 operating room technicians jobs
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Compare different operating room technicians
Operating room technician vs. Certified surgical technician/first assistant
A surgical Scrub Technician can be referred to as a doctor because he/she is a committed technician who does multiple tasks like providing the surgeon with nice instruments for surgery. They provide sterile instruments to the surgeon, prepare the operating table, sterilize the instruments, and make the room neat and clean.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between operating room technicians and certified surgical technician/first assistant. For instance, operating room technician responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "patient care," "surgical technologist," and "aseptic technique." Whereas a certified surgical technician/first assistant is skilled in "patient education," "surgical tech," "insurance verification," and "epic." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, certified surgical technician/first assistants reach similar levels of education than operating room technicians. Certified surgical technician/first assistants are 3.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Operating room technician vs. Surgical scrub technician
Anesthesia technicians are healthcare professionals who oversee activities related to anesthetics. They administer anesthesia to patients and assist doctors in related activities. They also monitor the patient after the anesthesia is administered to ensure that no harmful side effects occurred. Anesthesia technicians are expected to know how to test for anesthetic allergies and to spot signs of such allergies. They should be familiar with the different techniques, solutions, and equipment used for anesthetic procedures. Aside from those, anesthesia technicians are also expected to manage the inventory of anesthetic solutions and to trigger purchase requests for new stocks.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real operating room technician resumes. While operating room technician responsibilities can utilize skills like "patient care," "surgical technologist," "aseptic technique," and "sterile processing," surgical scrub technicians use skills like "surgical scrub," "surgical tech," "direct supervision," and "urology."
In general, surgical scrub technicians achieve similar levels of education than operating room technicians. They're 0.0% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Operating room technician vs. Anesthesia technician
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an operating room technician is likely to be skilled in "surgical technologist," "sponges," "surgical instruments," and "room environment," while a typical anesthesia technician is skilled in "bls," "anesthesia tech," "surgery," and "anesthesia machines."
Anesthesia technicians earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $42,622. Operating room technicians earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $56,415.Most anesthesia technicians achieve a similar degree level compared to operating room technicians. For example, they're 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Operating room technician vs. Endoscopic technician
Types of operating room technician
Updated January 8, 2025
