Surgical Tech III - Cardiovascular Operating Room

UNC Health • Chapel Hill, NC

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Surgical Technologist III works under the supervision of a surgeon and registered nurse to facilitate safe and effective invasive surgical procedures. The role helps maintain a safe operating-room environment, ensures equipment functions properly, and supports procedures under conditions that maximize patient safety. Surgical technologists apply sterile and aseptic technique alongside knowledge of human anatomy, surgical procedures, and related tools and technologies. The position is competent to perform surgical scrub duties across multiple services and may serve as a subject matter expert or contribute to unit projects and performance-improvement work.

This position serves in the Cardiovascular Operating Room at UNC Chapel Hill Main Campus, a Level I trauma academic facility with 26 operating rooms and multiple surgical service lines. The facility performs procedures including open-heart surgery, organ transplants, ECMO, endovascular procedures, robotic surgery, and other specialty procedures. The Surgical Technologist III performs technical duties across operating-room specialty areas, supports specialty instrumentation and implants, contributes to team education and leadership, and helps improve unit safety, quality, and efficiency.

The role is onsite in Chapel Hill and is scheduled Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., working four 10-hour shifts per week. Call and holiday requirements apply. This is a full-time state position employed by UNC Health Care System, with 40 standard hours per week. The hiring salary range is $26.85–$38.61 per hour; offers are determined by experience and internal equity.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED; a higher-level degree may satisfy this requirement. Alternatively, graduation from an accredited Surgical Technology or Nursing Program, or from a Military Training Program in Surgical Technology.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Provider certification.
• Certified Surgical Technologist (CST) certification through The National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting, or Tech in Surgery (TS-C) certification through The National Center of Competency Testing.
• Five years of related experience. Formal education or training may be substituted for individuals with seven or more years of prior experience as a surgical tech.
• Successful completion of the service-specific portion of the UNC Health Surgical Technologist competencies.
• Strong communication and customer-service skills.
• Ability to function effectively as a mentor and team player.
• Ability to meet on-call requirements, which may apply depending on the position.

Responsibilities

• Provide unit-level leadership to address safety and clinical-quality deficiencies and lead or implement unit-level changes.
• Assist in developing department policies, procedures, and protocols.
• Perform technical duties across operating-room specialty service areas in accordance with accepted standards of practice.
• Maintain, assemble, handle, and sterilize specialty instrumentation properly.
• Facilitate efficient operating-room turnovers.
• Demonstrate knowledge and proper handling of surgical implants and prostheses relevant to the specialty focus area.
• Apply advanced aseptic and surgical technique; identify contamination or breaks in aseptic technique and implement corrective actions.
• Perform surgical counts, follow procedures for incorrect counts, and report discrepancies appropriately.
• Assist with identification, preparation, handling, and labeling of surgical specimens.
• Label drugs and solutions and monitor quantities used.
• Participate in planning and setting up instruments, supplies, and surgical drapes for optimal accessibility during procedures.
• Assist with case picking and planning instrument needs.
• Assist the surgeon using knowledge of patient anatomy and abnormalities that may affect the procedure.
• Assist the registered nurse during the intraoperative implementation phase of nursing practice.
• Modify scrubbing procedures in response to pertinent information and communicate changes to the surgical team.
• Respond to surgical emergencies and follow hospitalwide emergency management plans.
• Inventory, receive, and store supplies under Surgical Services leadership; restock operating and procedure rooms and sub-sterile areas.
• Identify and report defective instruments, supplies, and equipment.
• Coach team members to anticipate resource needs.
• Mentor Surgical Technologist peers in collaboration with Surgical Services leadership and the educator.
• Serve as primary preceptor for new hires, on-the-job trainees, and the scrub role in the specialty focus area.
• Teach, guide, and evaluate peers during orientation and the annual review process.
• Identify and communicate educational needs to Surgical Services leadership and the educator; assess department-wide learning needs and participate in planning to address them.
• Serve as the primary Surgical Technologist resource for the specialty focus area.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals to develop surgical budget requirements and recommend cost-containment strategies.
• Participate in research-project data collection under the direction of a registered nurse.

Benefits

• UNC Health benefits
• Eligibility to continue participating in TSERS or the ORP for qualifying employees of another North Carolina agency who currently participate in those plans

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: High school or GED