Surgical Technologists
Assist in operations, under the supervision of surgeons, registered nurses, or other surgical personnel. May help set up operating room, prepare and transport patients for surgery, adjust lights and equipment, pass instruments and other supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors, cut sutures, and help count sponges, needles, supplies, and instruments.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Operations Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Time Management
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Production and Processing
- Psychology
- Computers and Electronics
- Biology
What the work involves
- Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation.
- Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation.
- Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing.
- Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists.
- Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers.
- Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis.
- Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery.
- Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (41.2% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (33.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (44%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Surgical Technologists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 99% of occupations compared | 100% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 69% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 99% of occupations compared | 98% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 87% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 61% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 73% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 71% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 92% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 0.48%
- Constant contact with others: 99.52%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 11.31%
- Fairly important: 1.46%
- Important: 13.6%
- Very important: 35.43%
- Extremely important: 38.19%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 2.49%
- Extremely important: 97.51%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 11.14%
- Very little freedom: 6.6%
- Limited freedom: 28.59%
- Some freedom: 25.92%
- A lot of freedom: 27.75%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 11.6%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.14%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.2%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.2%
- Every day: 49.86%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 3.46%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.51%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 58.08%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 7.6%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 3.46%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.75%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.37%
- Every day: 11.31%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 10.78%
- Fairly serious: 3.52%
- Serious: 15.62%
- Very serious: 0.51%
- Extremely serious: 69.57%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 29-2055.00 · SOC 29-2055 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8