Sterile Processing Technician--Donna Reich

Summary

Donna, a sterile processing technician at Southwest Washington Medical Center, shares her experience in a role vital for hospital operations. Her daily tasks include cleaning, sterilizing, and organizing surgical instruments, ensuring patient safety and efficiency. Despite the challenges of handling bio-hazardous materials, Donna finds her work rewarding, knowing it contributes to the hospital's high standards of care.

Takeaways

• 😀 Donna is a Sterile Processing Technician at Southwest Washington Medical Center, having started 3 months ago and still in training.
• 🏥 Sterile processing is crucial for the hospital's operations, ensuring that medical instruments are clean and safe for use.
• 🔄 Donna's daily tasks vary, including setting up instrument pans, sterilizing, and working in decontamination, which keeps her job interesting.
• 🧼 The decontamination process is vital as it involves cleaning surgical instruments to remove any bio-hazardous materials like blood and tissue.
• 👢 Donna wears personal protective equipment (PPE), including blue boots, to protect herself from bio-hazard splashes and fluids.
• 🔍 Attention to detail is critical; even a small piece of leftover tissue or debris on an instrument can require reprocessing.
• 📋 Documentation is key in sterilization, with each item tracked for potential recall or legal purposes, emphasizing the importance of record-keeping.
• 🔒 Proper loading of sterilizers is necessary for effective sterilization, with items arranged to allow steam to reach all surfaces.
• 🌡️ Instruments must be cooled before handling to prevent moisture wicking in, which could compromise sterility.
• 👩‍🔬 Biological indicators with live spores are used to certify that sterilization has been effective, ensuring patient safety.
• 🤝 Donna enjoys her work environment, appreciating the variety, interaction with colleagues, and the satisfaction of contributing to patient care.

Q & A

What is Donna's role at Southwest Washington Medical Center?

Donna is a Sterile Processing Technician, responsible for ensuring that all surgical instruments are properly cleaned, sterilized, and ready for use.

How long has Donna been working at the medical center?

Donna has been working at the medical center for about 3 months and is still technically in training.

Why is sterile processing considered a crucial part of the hospital?

Sterile processing is crucial because without it, the hospital would cease to exist. It ensures that all instruments used in surgeries are free from any contaminants, which is vital for patient safety.

What personal protective equipment does Donna mention using?

Donna mentions using blue boots and PPE (personal protective equipment) to prevent any fluids or bio-hazard splashes from passing through.

What is the importance of the washer in the sterilization process?

The washer is the most important step because if there's any material left on the instruments, sterilizing them is not as effective. It ensures that all visible contaminants are removed before sterilization.

What does Donna do to ensure that instruments are properly cleaned and checked?

Donna washes, rinses, and cleans the instruments, checks for hidden debris, and ensures that they are properly assembled and counted before being sterilized.

How does Donna handle instruments that may have been separated during the washing process?

Donna puts numbers in each basket corresponding to the case number so that if any instrument is missing, it can be easily identified and matched with the correct case.

What is the purpose of the chemical indicator Donna uses?

The chemical indicator is used to show that the instruments have been sterilized. If Donna forgets to put it in the pan, the sterilization process cannot be verified, and the instruments would not be eligible for surgery.

How does Donna keep track of her work and ensure accountability?

Donna logs into a computer at each step of the process and puts her initials on the pans, so there is a record of who processed each set of instruments.

What is the role of the biological indicator package in the sterilization process?

The biological indicator package contains live spores. It is placed in the sterilizer to verify that the sterilization process has been effective by ensuring that the spores are killed.

How does Donna feel about her job and the hospital at the end of the day?

Donna feels good about her job and the hospital. She enjoys the variety and interaction with colleagues, and she takes pride in knowing that her work contributes to helping people by ensuring the sterility of surgical instruments.