Surgical First Assist - CSFA

Profession: Clinical-Allied

Specialty: Surgical Services

Duration: 26 weeks

Shift: First Shift

Hours per Shift: 8

Experience: No experience required; preferred 6 to 12 months experience

License: BLS

Certifications: NBSTSA Certified Surgical First Assist (CSFA) required

Must-Have:

Technical Diploma from Surgical Technologist accredited program or comparable military training

Completion of Surgical First Assistant Program

Description:

Assist the surgeon in performing surgical procedures.

Function as the surgeon's chief assistant in the operating room.

Supervised by the department director and nurse manager.

Assignments received from the charge nurse and/or RN in charge of the room.

Scrub into cases.

Assist the primary scrub with set-up and opening of sterile supplies.

Ensure instruments and supplies are available for the scheduled case.

Set up cases ensuring that all instruments are thoroughly sterilized.

Maintain the sterile field during case set up.

Alert the circulating nurse of any identified risks or variance from standard operating procedures.

Assist the circulating RN with patient positioning.

Assist with sterile draping.

Assist the RN with circulating duties as needed to carry out appropriate interventions.

Pass instruments.

Assist the physician as needed.

May be asked to clamp, cauterize, tie, and apply ligating clamps, hemostatic clips, and place hemostatic agents on vessels and tissue.

May be asked to apply running or interrupted sutures on wound layers from muscle, fascia, subcutaneous, and skin.

First assist in cardiothoracic procedures and other surgical procedures.

Perform surgical procedures independently as directed and supervised by the physician, including but not limited to saphenous vein harvesting (open and endoscopic) after successfully completing an approved course on saphenous vein harvesting.

Maintain the sterile field throughout the case.

Work with the circulating nurse and orderlies to perform post-case cleaning duties.

Responsible for point-of-use cleaning of instruments, including breaking down instruments for further cleaning in Central Sterile Processing.

Responsible for following all standards for instrument transport and return to Central Sterile.

Notify the appropriate leader if there are any damaged instruments at the end of the case.

Ensure the surgical suite is disinfected and ready for the next procedure.

CFA Hearts call every other day and every other weekend.