Surgical Assistant job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 3 of 5

medium preparation

Typical entry education

Postsecondary nondegree award

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$66,800

BLS May 2025

1. Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures. importance 4.9 of 5
2. Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment. importance 4.8 of 5
3. Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure. importance 4.8 of 5
4. Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events. importance 4.7 of 5
5. Verify the identity of patient or operative site. importance 4.7 of 5
6. Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies. importance 4.7 of 5
7. Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving. importance 4.7 of 5
8. Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field. importance 4.7 of 5
9. Determine availability of necessary equipment or supplies for operative procedures. importance 4.6 of 5
10. Gather, arrange, or assemble instruments or supplies. importance 4.6 of 5
11. Operate sterilizing devices. importance 4.6 of 5
12. Clamp, ligate, or cauterize blood vessels to control bleeding during surgical entry, using hemostatic clamps, suture ligatures, or electrocautery equipment. importance 4.5 of 5
13. Prepare and apply sterile wound dressings. importance 4.5 of 5
14. Assess skin integrity or other body conditions upon completion of the procedure to determine if damage has occurred from body positioning. importance 4.5 of 5
15. Apply sutures, staples, clips, or other materials to close skin, facia, or subcutaneous wound layers. importance 4.4 of 5
16. Assist in the insertion, positioning, or suturing of closed-wound drainage systems. importance 4.3 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Assisting and Caring for Others, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings and Getting Information.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Monitor patient intra-operative status, including patient position, vital signs, or volume and color of blood.
• Discuss with surgeon the nature of the surgical procedure, including operative consent, methods of operative exposure, diagnostic or laboratory data, or patient-advanced directives or other needs.
• Coordinate with anesthesia personnel to maintain patient temperature.
• Incise tissue layers in lower extremities to harvest veins.
• Postoperatively inject a subcutaneous local anesthetic agent to reduce pain.
• Insert or remove urinary bladder catheters.

Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, Education and Training, Public Safety and Security, English Language and Biology.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: MEDITECH software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Electronic medical record EMR software, Nursing documentation software. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become a surgical assistant.

Job title: Surgical Assistant
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Surgical Assistant to assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures.
- Maintain an unobstructed operative field, using surgical retractors, sponges, or suctioning and irrigating equipment.
- Pass instruments or supplies to surgeon during procedure.
- Assist with patient resuscitation during cardiac arrest or other life-threatening events.
- Verify the identity of patient or operative site.
- Obtain or inspect sterile or non-sterile surgical equipment, instruments, or supplies.
- Assist members of surgical team with gowning or gloving.
- Cover patients with surgical drapes to create and maintain a sterile operative field.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in active listening, speaking and reading comprehension
- Working knowledge of Medicine and Dentistry and Education and Training
- [Software your team uses, e.g. MEDITECH software or Microsoft Excel]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

The median annual wage was $66,800 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $32.11. BLS estimates about 22,270 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of surgical assistants to grow 6.1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,400 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full surgical assistant salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real surgical assistant posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Monitor and maintain aseptic technique throughout procedures”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only surgical assistant work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (active listening and speaking).