Speaking of surgical assistants, years ago the RNs pretty much had total control over the Operating Rooms. They had RNs who circulated and RNs who scrubbed.
Then a shortage appeared and there were not enough OR nurses to go around. So in came the Operating Room Technicians. The nurses realized they caused the shortage and could not do much about it so they "embraced" the Operating Room Technicians as long as, and here was the job security, the circulating nurse was an RN.
Go to the website of the AORN (if that is what it is still called) and check their standards of care. The circulating nurse MUST be an RN.
WHY?
I have seen experienced Operating Room Technicians training in the newly graduated RN. The nurse knows how to wash their hands when they arrive but the OR technician has to teach them the ropes.
And in this area, as with anesthesia, as long as a person can do the job safely and competently, what difference does it make what road they took to get there? If an OR technician can scrub in, they should also be able to circulate.
