Sterile Processing Technician

Department: Roy Himelfarb Surgery Center

Schedule

Full Time, Day Shift (80 hours biweekly)

Hours:  Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

No weekend, or major holiday

General Summary

Collaborates with supervisor and Operating Room service line RN Coordinators to provide resources and services for service specific instrumentation, supplies and equipment, coordinating and implementing surgical instrument processing according to the workflow of each specialty. Processes supplies and equipment, performs cleaning and sterilization duties and prepares instrument sets, supplies, loaner and consigned instruments in the Central Sterile Processing area. Maintains recommended standards for set assembly, decontamination, inspection, containerizing and sterilization of surgical instruments. Performs sterilization, assembly and storage of medical supplies and equipment. Collaborates with the Perioperative Nursing staff to provide sterile instrument sets, equipment and case carts in an accurate and timely manner. Performs a variety of lead technician functions such as, acting as a liaison between sterile processing staff members, supervisors and the operating room RN Specialty Coordinator(s), serving as the specialty resource, participating in performance improvement (PI) initiatives, trouble shooting daily operational issues impeding workflow of the specialty, orientation of specialty team members and other duties as assigned. Assists in maintaining consistent and continuous workflow, providing superior customer service.

Essential Functions:

• Assembles all specialty service instrumentation as priority, maintaining specialty instrument inventory of sets and instrumentation.
• Maintains instruments for service-specific specialties; collaborates with the CSP Supervisor and the O.R Service Line RN Coordinators (e.g. Open Heart, Neuro, Ortho, Thoracic, Vascular, GYN, GU, ENT, Eye, Dental, General, etc.)
• Communicates with materials management via the Central Sterile Processing management team for procurement of instrumentation specific to assigned service.
• Coordinates with supervisor in order to maintain instrument sharpening/repair schedule for assigned service line instrumentation.
• Decontaminates instruments, supplies and equipment according to established policies and procedures.
• Cleans, assembles, wraps, containerizes, sterilizes and stores supplies and instrument trays.
• Sterilizes instruments, equipment and supplies as required; handles and stores instruments, equipment and supplies appropriately.
• Performs biological and chemical monitoring in accordance with quality assurance standards.
• Reviews the daily surgical schedule with CSP supervisor and obtains instruments, supplies and equipment for scheduled and emergent procedures.
• Assembles case carts; places instrument sets and supplies appropriately for each procedure cart.
• Operates and maintains washers/sterilizers, ultrasonic machine, steam and Sterrad sterilizers, heat sealers and additional equipment and machinery as needed. Performs/assigns daily cleaning of equipment and machines.
• Maintains the Biological Monitoring System/Records of instrument processing and IUS Sterilizers used in the perioperative setting.

Common Expectations:

• Assists supervisor in establishing assignments for service-specific team members, developing programs and determining instrument and equipment needs based on the surgical schedule.
• Maintains established policies and procedures, objectives, quality assessment, safety, environmental and infection control standards.
• Participates in educational programs and inservice meetings.
• Mentors and orients CSP technician staff to department standard operating procedures as assigned.
• Identifies opportunities to improve efficiency while providing outstanding service and utilizes resources to optimize cost efficiency and maintain the standards of care to our customer.
• Attends meetings as required.
• Distributes supplies and equipment to units in a timely fashion.
• Maintains the cleanliness of work areas as required.
• Assumes role as charge technician as assigned
• Provides outstanding service to all customers; fosters teamwork; and practices fiscal responsibility through improvement and innovation.

Qualifications
Minimum Education:

• High School Diploma or GED Required

Work Experience:

• 2 years Experience as a Certified Central Sterile Processing Technician. Required

Licenses:

• Certified Registered Central Service Technician Upon Hire Required or
• Certified Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician Upon Hire Required and
• Certified Endoscope Reprocessor Upon Hire Preferred or
• Certified Flexible Endoscope Reprocessor Upon Hire Preferred and
• Basic Life Support Upon Hire Preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Excellent oral, written and computer skills.
• Proficiency in transporting and disposing of hazardous materials per hospital policy.
• Must have developed analytical decision making abilities.
• Must be capable of working in team environment with staff of varying backgrounds.
• Must also be able to work with Perioperative Nursing staff to coordinate processing of instrument sets to accommodate the daily O.R. case load.

Benefits Offered:

• Comprehensive health benefits
• Retirement savings plan
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Education assistance
• Financial education and support, including DailyPay
• Expanded Paid Parental Leave

For additional details: Benefits & Incentives | WellSpan Careers (joinwellspan.org)