Sparking a Learning Revolution in Your Sterile Processing Department (7.12.22)

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[Read the full article here] Access to information in the sterile processing department (SPD) has never been greater than it is currently. Although we don't yet have speech-activated virtual assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri, to answer our sterile processing questions, frontline technicians and department leaders are quickly able to access a wealth of recommendations and best practices. Without a doubt, the “information age” has reached out and touched the SPD.

But has all this information actually changed us? Have the thousands of copies of ANSI/AAMI ST79:2017,1?ANSI/AAMI ST91:2021,?and other material scattered across hospital basements from Boston to Sacramento changed the way our technicians view the importance of lifelong learning in our field?

Whether your answer is “absolutely” or “not as much as I would like,” this article will help you begin or continue to build upon a lasting framework for lighting a fire among your technicians for industry learning, particularly as it relates to standards and recommended practices.

Putting the Technical Back into Technician

If you walk into the average SPD in the United States, you will find a number of technicians with various levels of experience, certification, and expertise. They will have completed on-boarding programs at their local facilities and annual competencies related to their job functions, with some perhaps having graduated from a sterile processing training course. They typically have a solid understanding for how the work gets done in their department, including what the workflow entails, where the equipment and documentation are located, and the various requirements for instrument scanning.

However, they may not be as comfortable in their knowledge of “why”—or the rationale behind what they have been asked to do every day. Understanding the basis for work processes is what separates a technician (i.e., an expert in the practical application of a science) from an operator (i.e., a person who operates equipment or a machine). Knowing the why differentiates the button pushers from the true sterilization specialists, and one cannot gain this information without delving into the technical standards that drive an industry.

Growth: A Direction, not a Destination

How do you move the focus of your team from the how to the why of sterile processing? The most important step for laying this foundation is creating a culture of technical growth among your frontline staff. Unlike typical models of growth (such as career ladders) that have a concrete end goal, this culture of growth should be understood more as a direction rather than a destination. There is no such thing as “arriving” or graduating from this growth program. The expectation developed for your technicians would be that every week would bring them into a deeper and broader understanding of successfully waging this neverending war on bioburden known as sterile processing. With each passing day, processes and policies are held up to the burning light of knowledge and technicians walk away with a glow of new insight, new understanding, and new conceptual tools to improve their small corner of the healthcare universe.

Obviously, this sounds great as far as leadership philosophies go. Who would not want a department like this, where growth in knowledge serves as the flame to which every technician, specialist, and frontline provider is drawn? The reality is that this thirst for technical growth first must be cultivated before it genuinely can be called a culture. And that takes practical, daily steps on the part of department leadership to develop an atmosphere where sparks are able to grow into flames. Here are three guidelines to consider to make it a reality in your department... [read the full article published in the AAMI BI&T Journal here].

For more information on learning and educating with the Sterile Processing context, check out today's additional resources & important links:

• ?? ?Listen to this podcast interview entitled with Ken Batton entitled Learning to Love Chemicals: Basic Training for Sterile Processing Technicians
• ?? ?Listen to this podcast interview entitled with Dr. Rachel Mandel entitled Learning to Love Lean and Improve our Industry
• ??? Read this article from the Beyond Clean blog entitled Sterilization Scare: 5 Lessons We Must Learn from Porter Adventist Hospital
• ?? Watch this session with Dr. Paulo Laranjeira from our PyroTech conference entitled Adult Education: How to Engage and Enhance Onboarding and Development
• ?? ?Learn about the new Sterile Processing Microcredential?that will take you deeper into the intersection of infection prevention, cross-contamination, and reprocessing excellence
• ??? ?Sign up for our weekly email newsletter?with new podcasts, CE content, resources and more to help your SPD team fight dirty, every instrument, every time
• ?? There's an app for that! --> Download our exclusive Beyond Clean mobile app for awesome audio content from the heart of Sterile Processing on?Android?or?Apple

To Subscribe to our weekly Beyond Clean podcast, visit?iTunes,?Stitcher,?Google Play?or?Spotify

Keep fighting dirty!

-Hank Balch

Founder & President, Beyond Clean