The OR Attendant provides essential perioperative support in a high-acuity Operating Room environment by ensuring safe patient handling, timely room turnover, infection prevention compliance, equipment readiness, and rapid response to urgent, trauma, and emergency surgical needs.
The role requires specialized knowledge gained through the OR Attendant course and ongoing competency validation, and the ability to translate clinical direction, surgical service requirements, and physician preferences into safe and efficient action.
This position directly contributes to patient safety, infection prevention, OR efficiency, reduced turnover times, improved surgical flow, and effective collaboration within the interdisciplinary surgical team.
Duties And Responsibilities
- Provide essential perioperative operational support to ensure safe, efficient, and uninterrupted surgical care.
- Support surgical services across Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Spine, Plastics, Cardiac, Vascular, Urology, Gynecology, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, and Trauma.
- Independently assess and prioritize competing demands based on:
- Procedure complexity
- Patient and staff safety
- Surgical schedule and urgent add-on cases
- Specialized equipment and supply requirements
- Patient-specific needs
- Surgeon/physician preferences
- Real-time OR workflow
- Lead procedure-specific OR readiness by coordinating:
- Specialized equipment and technology
- Positioning devices
- Supplies and instruments
- Emergency and contingency resources
- Set up ORs according to procedure requirements, surgeon preference cards, patient positioning needs, hospital standards, emergency readiness requirements, and manufacturer instructions.
- Verify room, equipment, and supply readiness before each procedure.
- Identify and address missing, unsafe, or malfunctioning equipment and supplies to prevent delays and protect patient safety.
- Anticipate and respond to changing surgical schedules, urgent/trauma/emergency cases, and competing priorities to maintain efficient case flow and timely starts.
- Maintain critical supply inventory, replenish supplies, minimize waste, and escalate shortages that may affect patient care or OR operations.
- Support rapid and safe case turnover to ensure the OR is fully prepared for the next patient.
- Operate, inspect, prepare, and support the safe use of specialized OR equipment within the scope of the role, including:
- OR tables
- Suction systems
- ESU equipment
- C-arms
- Microscopes
- Positioning equipment
- Other specialized perioperative technology
- Identify equipment issues or hazards and initiate appropriate corrective action or escalation to RN, Team Leader, Biomedical Engineering, MDRD, or supervisor.
- Follow manufacturer instructions and established safety standards when handling and operating equipment.
- Apply and uphold IPAC, occupational health and safety, environmental, and OR standards during room preparation, procedures, turnover, equipment handling, and waste management.
- Perform and verify appropriate decontamination, disinfection, and environmental readiness measures.
- Maintain awareness of:
- Sterile-field boundaries
- Contamination risks
- Blood and bodily fluid exposure
- Hazardous materials
- Environmental hazards
- Equipment-handling risks
- Immediately identify, stop or contain, communicate, and escalate aseptic breaches, contamination events, environmental hazards, equipment-related risks, and unsafe work practices.
- Take appropriate corrective action and follow through until identified risks are resolved or transferred to the appropriate clinical leader.
- Support practices that protect sterile integrity, prevent infection, and reduce risk of patient or staff harm.
- Provide direct support for safe patient transport, transfer, positioning, and handling according to procedure requirements, patient-specific risks, physician direction, and established safety standards.
- Respond promptly to requests from nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other members of the surgical team.
- Anticipate patient-care and procedural support needs, particularly during high-acuity, trauma, emergency, and rapidly changing situations.
- Open sterile supplies as directed while maintaining awareness of sterile-field requirements.
- Support safe post-procedure instrument handling, waste management, and maintenance of an organized patient-care environment.
- Exercise sound judgment, clinical situational awareness, and professionalism in a fast-paced environment.
- Interpret limited or rapidly changing direction and translate it into timely, coordinated action.
- Identify, communicate, and escalate concerns related to:
- Patient and staff safety
- Equipment and supplies
- Infection prevention
- Environmental conditions
- OR workflow
- Process improvement
- Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to support timely case starts, safe patient transitions, efficient patient flow, and readiness for urgent and emergency procedures.
- Maintain patient privacy and confidentiality and comply with all related policies and procedures.
- Report and respond appropriately to confidentiality breaches, safety risks, incidents, and events in accordance with established policies.
- Demonstrate sustained attention, emotional resilience, physical stamina, and professionalism when working under pressure.
- Remain adaptable and responsive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
- Participate in ongoing technical training, continuing education, and competency validation.
- Maintain proficiency in the safe use of specialized OR equipment, procedures, and organizational standards.
- Demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning, safety, quality improvement, and efficient OR operations.
Qualifications
- Secondary school diploma required
- Operating Room Attendant certificate from a recognized post-secondary institution required or minimum 2 years of recent OR experience required (which includes direct exposure to OR workflow, room setup for all surgical procedures, OR turnover, familiarity with sterile techniques and opening sterile packages, and patient positioning for OR procedures)
- Certification in BLS required as per hospital policy.
- Demonstrated ability to meet the physical demands of the role, including pushing and lifting up to 50lbs.
- Knowledge of cleaning products and their uses including a basic knowledge of WHMIS and MSDS.
- Must understand the concepts of infection prevention control awareness and function within a sterile environment.
- Have the knowledge and ability to practice aseptic technique
- Must be flexible and able to work all shifts.
- Demonstrated excellent communication skills with multidisciplinary teams
- Demonstrated basic computer skills
- Demonstrated ability to function as an effective team member.
- Able to work independently and in a team setting within the scope of the role
- Able to recognize and prioritize workload.
- Excellent attendance record
Must be available to work all shifts; days (0730-1530), lates (1100-1900), evenings (1530-2330), nights (2330-0730), weekends and statutory holidays as well as regular and all lengths of shifts, as required for this position.
Unity Health Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We strive to provide a recruitment process that is barrier-free and in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code. We understand that you may require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process. When you are contacted, please inform the Talent Acquisition Specialist and we will work with you to meet your accommodation needs. We want to emphasize that all accommodation requests are handled with the utmost confidentiality, respecting your privacy and dignity.
