Sterile Processing Department (SPD) managers and technicians know a thing or two about pressure. In a recent webinar covering sterile processing basics, Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, president and CEO of Ofstead & Associates, Inc, and Abby Smart, MPH, research associate, cited the example of a 480-bed hospital that performed 13,650 procedures in 1 year and used an estimated 1.6 million individual instruments. That equates to cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing about 4,400 instruments per day. The sheer volume of surgical instruments…

Congratulations. You have worked hard to master your skills in the sterile processing department (SPD). You have prepared, been interviewed, and finally been promoted to a leadership position. Now, what? Yesterday you were working as a peer in your department, and now you are the leader. Are you prepared for the journey ahead? Successful leaders must challenge themselves to be the best they can be as well as challenge and help those on their teams be successful. This can be…

Takeaways • Failure to understand the complexity of the work performed in the sterile processing department (SPD) can lead to staff shortages, errors, and significant financial loss. • Strategies for addressing SPD staffing include effective orientation, certification, competency assessment, analyzing staffing needs, and leader visibility. • SPD schedules should reflect OR workflow patterns, rather than match OR shifts. Leaders of sterile processing departments (SPDs) face unique challenges compared to their counterparts in other perioperative settings. “The main challenge is a…

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are continuing to perform more and more surgical procedures. According to Fortune Business Insights, ASCs can expect to see even greater case volumes as the number of outpatient procedures is estimated to increase by 15% by 2028. With an increase in procedures, it is essential that ASC staff maintain the proper infection prevention protocols. This is important throughout an entire facility, but especially in the sterile processing department (SPD). For SPD professionals, daily tasks can, and…

Contaminated surgical instruments made ECRI Institute’s 2019 annual top 10 list of health technology hazards, coming in at number five: “Mishandling flexible endoscopes after disinfection can lead to patient infections.” Number two on the list in 2018 was “Endoscope reprocessing failures continue to expose patients to infection risk.” It’s not only endoscopes that are of concern. ECRI Institute’s Patient Safety Organization, which hosts a voluntary database of events, contained more than 1,000 events related to the effects of contaminated instruments…

Contaminated surgical instruments pose a danger to patients and to an organization’s bottom line. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we discussed prevention strategies (OR Manager, April 2019, 14-15, 19). In Part 2, the focus is on investigating potential contamination, along with design considerations.   Detective work Despite best efforts, contamination of surgical instruments does occur. Investigations can be triggered by staff seeing visible bioburden on an instrument or by an uptick in rates of patient infections, says Scott…

Perioperative leaders, including those in the sterile processing department (SPD), need to know when to make sweeping—not just incremental—changes to improve workflow and optimize the talents of their staff. Sometimes gains in productivity and staff satisfaction depend not only on identifying process improvements but also on placing staff in areas where they’re most likely to succeed—which can require a major overhaul. That was the case at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, in 2016. Two leaders in MGH’s SPD made substantive…

Improving teamwork between OR and sterile processing department (SPD) staff is an obvious way to increase the safety and efficiency of surgical procedures, but getting everyone on the same page can be challenging. Often the staff have limited understanding of what takes place in each respective department. Firsthand observation has helped bridge the gap between the two departments at Children’s Hospital, LCMC Health in New Orleans. As part of an initiative aimed at familiarizing OR staff with the SPD, not…

When audits revealed areas of deficit in the sterile processing departments (SPDs) of the Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, leaders pulled together a team to help implement a quality improvement plan. By analyzing and standardizing their processes, creating auditing tools, and educating staff, they significantly increased quality scores throughout the system. Memorial Hermann, which has 13 acute care hospitals with more than 160 ORs and 13 SPDs, had received negative findings related to instrument handling on visits from the…

In an era characterized by technological advancements and increased surgical complexity, traditional approaches to clinical education in the OR and SPD are due for a disruption. This cutting-edge session from OR Manager Conference will delve into the dynamic intersection of clinical practice, leadership, and technology within the critical care and ASC settings. Attendees will explore transformative educational models that equip clinicians and leadership with the tools to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of perioperative & sterile processing practice. We will unpack…

Discovering the right approach to allocate resources for the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) involves considering the use of patient days and surgical volumes to gauge productivity. In light of the nationwide shortage of SPD techs and scheduling difficulties, this session from OR Manager Conference will explore alternative methodologies, focusing on assessing full-time equivalents (FTEs).