Surgical Techs/OR Techs in New Jersey

Crux1024 · Oct 21, 2008

Hi Pixie~

Firstly I'll say that I love being a Surgical Technologist. The reason that Im in RN school now is the lack of advancement associated with surgical technology. I want to be able to go other places/departments, so Im in school.

Other than that, being an ST is great. I enjoy the complexity of the procedures that I usually end up doing...I also enjoy the exposure to anatomy that you get with the job.

Hours for new grads are usually days and evenings with the night shift reserved for the more experienced ST's (at my facility anyway). ST's in south central Pennsylvania, at my hospital make 15.85 starting but the pay varies with the area and state to state.

Around here, the ST and RN programs have the same prerequisites, so maybe that'll help when you take the leap for RN.

IMO, its a great career as a stepping stone or as a permanent. Just follow what you love.

For more information, you can check out http://www.ast.org. You can also PM me if you have more questions.

pixieshmoo · Oct 22, 2008

Thank you so much!

pixieshmoo · Oct 22, 2008

I have one more question. Was the school you went to accredited? My problem is that near me, none of the schools are accredited by CAAHEP. There are two business schools right near me that offer the surgical tech course, but the few that are accredited are a good 30 minutes or more away from here. I recently met a surg. tech in passing who told me that you don't need to be "certified", you will get hired anyway, as she was never certified. However, I also read somewhere that your certification can also help you obtain a higher pay rate (obviously) yet, in order to sit for the certification exam, you must have gone to an accredited school. I don't know if that is true or not, but I was wondering your take on it.

Crux1024 · Oct 22, 2008

I have one more question. Was the school you went to accredited? My problem is that near me, none of the schools are accredited by CAAHEP. There are two business schools right near me that offer the surgical tech course, but the few that are accredited are a good 30 minutes or more away from here. I recently met a surg. tech in passing who told me that you don't need to be "certified", you will get hired anyway, as she was never certified. However, I also read somewhere that your certification can also help you obtain a higher pay rate (obviously) yet, in order to sit for the certification exam, you must have gone to an accredited school. I don't know if that is true or not, but I was wondering your take on it.

To be able to be certified, your school does have to be accredited by CAAHEP. My school was. Now is certification necessary? No. You can still get hired without it. Some hospitals even still do on the job training, but those are few and far between.

You may want to check if the hospitals near you prefer certification or not. Some will stipulate that you have to have it within 6 months or less or at least be able to sit for the exam.

Depending if the hospital you go to has a laddering program for ST's, the certification may help you get a higher pay raise. It just depends on your area.

Good Luck with your decisions!

pixieshmoo · Nov 16, 2008

Well, I did it! I applied to a community college (a few mile drive, but it's accredited and worth it). I got accepted! Of course, I got accepted because right now I'm enrolled in the Assoc. in Science and general pre-requisites. I will have to apply by March to enter the Surg Tech program for fall semester. But I'm thrilled. After writing on here and getting some responses and after many, many late nights of research until I found myself reading the same stuff over and over, I made my decision. While I still tell myself my ultimate goal is RN, we'll see about that. Right now, I just want out of the legal field and into healthcare and with all the research I've done, I think this career will be very fitting for me. In fact, I may like it better than nursing lol. But only time will tell, I need to get through this successfully first, and see where I stand in a couple of years. I know now that I will always have time for more schooling should I choose that path. With that said, the funny part is that while some points of nursing have made me gag at the thought (such as a tracheotomy cleaning, or cleaning soiled patients, etc.) the thought of seeing blood in an OR doesn't bother me lol. I suppose that those other things are things I would overcome or at least learn to handle enough to be successful, but my first immediate thought about surgery is that while you're seeing what you are seeing, it is all for a good cause...to "help" someone or to "save" someone or to bring life into the world. Not that this particular area doesn't have failures or downsides, but with nursing in general, I would think you'd see more of those who just aren't going to get better or heal (correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, it's 2 a.m., way past my bedtime, I'm babbling and I don't care, but I'll stop and leave it at I'M TOTALLY PSYCHED ABOUT THIS!!! :up: :yeah: :wink2:

poppi76 · Dec 2, 2008

hello everyone. not sure where is was suppose to post this question. my dream is to work in the or room, passion to work for a plastic surgeon one day. here is the thing, i looking for schools in the penn’s and new jersey area, from reading other post i see people saying make sure school is caahep accredited. i have found a school near me that is accredited but not by caahep, but by accsct. is this school ok? since it is accredited? i am a little confused by all this and help would be great. thank you all very much.

sweezie · Dec 8, 2008

I am an O.R. tech (on the job training variety), but that was over 20 years ago and I think that it is much harder to find a hospital now that will train you themselves. I love the job (I work in the Dallas area), and I do agency work; meaning I go to many different O.R.s in different hospitals and "fill in". For me this is a great fit because I do not have to work in the same place with the same people everyday, get involved in the politics, drama, etc. I make $30 an hour doing this and would not consider doing anything else at this point in my life.

In my travels to different places one of the things that I have noticed is that in alot of the O.R.s the RN's also scrub. I believe that knowing how to scrub a case, even if you do go on to RN school can only make you a more valuable employee. The nurses that I know who do know how to scrub love doing it, and they are also a BIG help when I walk into a facility that I have not worked in before because they can usually give me alot of good pointers about the doc that I am working with.

Good luck with your studies. Hope this helps.