surgical technician IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!?

Question

How did u get started? Why did u pick this profession? What do u like most bout this job? least ? what is ur average day like? has this job changed u?

Answer 1

First let me say, I am not at this time an OR tech. But, I was at one time, and I have a lot of experience with OR techs. So I will endeavor to answer some questions for you.

I started as an OR Tech (I use this term because that's what they were called, and what many people still call them, despite the new name) when I was in school. I had been trained in a hospital based program as a Pharmacy Tech and was working while in nursing school. As a part of nursing school I took an elective in OR nursing and met a gentleman who taught surgical techs. He was able to give me a rapid course (due to the courses I had had for nursing school) and I was hired by the same hospital, where I was working as a pharmacy tech, to work as an OR tech. I enjoyed working in the OR on the elective, and thought that the job would be more fun than the pharmacy plus it paid a little more. I enjoyed working in the close relationship with the nurses and doctors, the OR is usually very relaxed and less formal than a lot of hospital settings. I did not, however, like standing for extended cases. Though I graduated from the BSN program I used my OR tech experience and started working as a private scrub nurse for a surgeon on an open heart team. The hours could be grueling, and there were some days I did not get a break for over 16 hours. I eventually took over the clinical training rotations of the surgical technology students, and worked with them for 5 years, then I taught the classroom phase and managed 34 clinical sites and became the course manager for the overall surgical technology program for 4 years. I had some wonderful experiences working as and with OR techs and it taught me patience and to organize and prioritize.

Incidentally, I have since returned to school, finished my graduate education and post graduate education and worked for years in family practice and specialized in the management of chronic headache patients.

Good luck with your goals!