New York Methodist Hospital recognizes National Surgical Technologists Week
From Sept. 20 to 26, New York Methodist Hospital (NYM) will celebrate its 53 certified surgical technologists during National Surgical Technologists Week. Surgical technologists are an important part of surgical teams in hospitals across the country; when time is tight and a patient’s life is on the line, an outstanding tech can make all the difference.
“Everyone has that image from television shows or movies of a surgeon calling, ‘scalpel!’ and the instrument automatically appearing in the surgeon’s hand. At the other end of that exchange is a surgical technologist,” said John Jacobs, vice president for surgical services at NYM. “But in actuality, the job goes well beyond ‘call and response.’ In fact, many interactions between surgeon and surgical technologist are entirely unspoken, because a tech not only knows thousands of surgical instruments on sight, but also what an individual surgeon’s preferences are, as well as the preparations and requirements for specific procedures. He or she can anticipate what will most likely be needed and when. In an emergency situation, this seamless coordination between surgeon and technologist can be life-saving.”