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Surgery technician skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. James Roush
Surgery technician example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical surgery technician skills. We ranked the top skills for surgery technicians based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 28.0% of surgery technician resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a surgery technician needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 surgery technician skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how surgery technicians use patients:
  • Assisted in positioning and supporting patients for regional anesthesia procedures such as spinal and epidurals.
  • Worked closely with surgical team regarding positioning of patients and surgical procedure skills.

2. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how surgery technicians use patient care:
  • Assisted nurses with case carts, surgical instruments and specimen deliveries to pathology labs for patient care.
  • Provided patient care in the areas of charting, starting IVs, sterilization, and lab work.

3. Surgical Procedures

Surgical procedures include the list of tasks that are done while doing surgery. Usually, a surgical procedure involves an incision with instruments, performed to repair damage or heal the disease in a living body. Surgical procedures are performed by trained individuals such as surgeons, doctors, and nurses.

Here's how surgery technicians use surgical procedures:
  • Processed instrumentation for sterilization and assisted surgeons during surgical procedures.
  • Assisted veterinarians with surgical procedures including administering and monitoring anesthesia.

4. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how surgery technicians use cpr:
  • Administer emergency first aid, including CPR and other life saving procedures.
  • Performed CPR on crashing animals that would come in during the night.

5. Infection Control

Infection control describes the principles and practices used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities to control and minimize the spread of infections with the aim of lowering rates of infection. Infection control refers to the process of detecting and controlling pathogens in order to reduce their spread.

Here's how surgery technicians use infection control:
  • Maintained patient safety standards in transfer/transport to and from operating rooms, including infection control and injury prevention.
  • Executed infection control and cleaning procedures for assigned operating rooms while following proper PPE and infection prevention procedures.

6. Surgical Instruments

Here's how surgery technicians use surgical instruments:
  • Calibrate and maintain surgical instruments, equipment, machines and lasers on a daily basis to ensure precise/accurate test results.
  • Performed Central Sterile procedures: cleaning, packing and sterilizing surgical instruments and supplies

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7. Pre

Pre is an acronym that indicates before or prior, but what it is prior to depends on the remaining word. For instance, "Pre-K" is a form of schooling that comes before kindergarten, and "pre-calculus" refers to a math class that teaches the foundations of calculus.

Here's how surgery technicians use pre:
  • Perform surgery-related tasks such as pre and post-operative care and anesthesia administration and monitoring
  • Monitored animals pre and post surgery.

8. GYN

GYN is a commonly used abbreviation that stands for gynecology or a gynecologist. The word "gynecology" has emerged from the Greek word "gynaikos" which means women and "logy means "study" making it a study of women. A doctor who specialized in handling pregnancy, childbirth, and treating female reproductive system diseases is called a gynecologist. They diagnose and treat issues of the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and breasts.

Here's how surgery technicians use gyn:
  • Performed scrub duties for General, Orthopedic, GYN, Urology, Vascular, Neurology, Opthalmology, and ENT.

9. IV

Here's how surgery technicians use iv:
  • Place IV catheters, draw blood, run a variety a lab work including blood and urinalysis tests.
  • Prepare Op rooms for surgery and IV sedation.

10. Ortho

Ortho is a medical prefix that refers to straightening something. This is seen in medical professions such as an orthodontist, who straightens teeth, or an orthopedic physician or surgeon, who assists in straightening a skeletal structure to prevent future deformities or harmful issues to develop.

Here's how surgery technicians use ortho:
  • General Surgery, Light Ortho, Urology, Plastic, and Podiatry
  • Travel Assignment was for four weeks and I was recruited for ORTHO and ORTHO Trauma.

11. Radiology

Radiology means a division of medicine that concentrates on the use of radiant energy or any other radioactive material in the process of diagnosis and ailment treatments. It deals specifically with X-rays and radiations bearing high-energy, used in medicine and diagnosis.

Here's how surgery technicians use radiology:
  • Assisted within Radiology, MRI, Bone Scan, Laboratory, Pharmacy/Central Service, Billing/Front Office and Podiatry.
  • Processed blood and lab specimens; assisted in radiology.

12. Sponges

Here's how surgery technicians use sponges:
  • Prepared sutures, sponges and other surgical supplies as needed during procedures.
  • Count sponges, needles, and instruments before, during and after operation.

13. PET

Here's how surgery technicians use pet:
  • Certified Pet Crematory Technician Licensed Veterinary Technician
  • Managed operational and administrative functions such as training/supervising new employees, issuing prescriptions, and documenting pet insurance applications and transactions.

14. Medical Terminology

Here's how surgery technicians use medical terminology:
  • Skilled in computerized scheduling, Epic Systems /IT /Health Connect, Strong working knowledge of medical terminology

15. Compassion

Here's how surgery technicians use compassion:
  • Possess the ability to balance empathy and compassion toward clients during delicate and difficult care decisions/procedures.
  • Administered injections and medications to hospitalized animals and treated animals with care and compassion.
top-skills

What skills help Surgery Technicians find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on surgery technician resumes?

Dr. James RoushDr. James Roush LinkedIn profile

Doughman Professor, Small Animal Surgery, Interim Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Student Affairs, Kansas State University

Experience in veterinary practices from externships, preceptorships, and other opportunities, and b) evidence of focused study in areas that the employer is seeking help for. That focus depends on the practice, but can include experience or advanced education with exotic pets, avian patients, or feline medicine for example, or in disciplines such as dentistry, dermatology, and oncology. Veterinary employers want to see evidence that prospective employees are able to bring advanced skills to the practice and attract new patients.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about surgery technician

List of surgery technician skills to add to your resume

Surgery technician skills

The most important skills for a surgery technician resume and required skills for a surgery technician to have include:

  • Patients
  • Patient Care
  • Surgical Procedures
  • CPR
  • Infection Control
  • Surgical Instruments
  • Pre
  • GYN
  • IV
  • Ortho
  • Radiology
  • Sponges
  • PET
  • Medical Terminology
  • Compassion
  • Vital Signs
  • Surgery Tech
  • Retractors
  • Catheter
  • Surgical Cases
  • Radiographic Procedures
  • Surgical Equipment
  • Sterilizers
  • Autoclaves
  • Phone Calls
  • EKG
  • Physical Examinations
  • OSHA
  • Patient Flow
  • C-Arm
  • Surgical Suite
  • Technical Assistance
  • Cornerstone
  • Intubation
  • ICU
  • Laboratory Tests
  • Cystoscopy
  • Blood Pressure
  • Exam Rooms
  • Animal Handling
  • Splints
  • Surgery Schedule
  • Post-Operative Care

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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