In 1966, the indomitable genius of Walt Disney forever seared the words of a catchy folk tune into a nation’s imagination. The phrase was simple, yet profoundly in tune with human experience. Brotherhood of man, world peace, nationality, locality — all rolled up into six words and one water-themed amusement park ride. . . “It’s A Small…
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Finding the right people for the job is 90% of the battle for Sterile Processing excellence. Sure, you need to have adequate training, smooth processes, and a common goal — but if you have all that without great people, well, we all know what that looks like. And it’s not pretty. But where do you go…
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One unseen Fogarty insert that makes its way back to the OR can cost your facility upwards of $10K if it is discovered on the sterile field, not to mention the unthinkable possibility of the instrument being reused on an unknowing patient. I need not even mention the danger lurking in poorly processed Ortho shavers, Andrews…
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(A few years ago, my SPD department in Louisville Kentucky had the highest performance cultural assessment scores of any department in an entire health system of 17+ hospitals. Here are a few concepts that worked for us…) If you work in a hospital of any size you are probably familiar with the idea of an annual facility culture…
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I’ve got nothing against pizza. Believe me. I’d push a grandma out of the way if she were holding up the line for some buffalo ranch chicken pizza. So trust me when I say, this is not some kind of veiled attack against a menu choice. Instead, it’s a frontal assault against lazy leadership, uncreative…
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Before there is an insurrection from the accreditation wing of the Sterile Processing world, let me just come out and offer a disclaimer right here at the outset — I support continuing education credits. I think they give our industry, in particular, a helpful dose of standardization and incentive for growth in knowledge and professional expertise….
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There are few more dangerous places to work in our nation’s hospitals than the decontamination room of a Central Sterile department. The opportunity for bloodborne pathogen exposure is ever-present, and yet many CS/SPD technicians are daily put at risk of injury by unsafe post-operative instrument preparations. Let’s take a look at the four most common dangers and how…
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“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” -GK Chesterton When it comes to story-telling, some of us in the healthcare profession pretend that such activity is the purview of kindergarten teachers and grandpas, but definitely not our job. Maybe the marketing department can handle it,…
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Few things stressed me out more as a new Sterile Processing leader than walking out of the department on a Friday evening. Unlike your friendly neighborhood office building, most of us don’t have the luxury of closing the SPD door at 5pm on Friday. Instead, we take all the department leaders away — not only from the…
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The one question we hear more than any other in the Sterile Processing world is this: “How do I grow? And quick!” Some of the answers to this may be easy, but they are all painfully counter-cultural. Are you ready? If you’re going to quickly grow your SPD career, here are the first two things…
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