factor in suboptimal processing , many experts point out .

“ When you think about the different types of instrumentation and equipment that is reprocessed , it ’ s a few different types to a few thousand instruments in the inventory that you see every day in the sterile processing department ( SPD ),” Davis confirms . “ There are different levels of complexity with these instruments , from a pair of scissors to the complex instruments that might have three or four parts that must be disassembled , so the educational training is ongoing and we work with our members during consultations , trying to identify ways to put in job aids and there ’ s third-party warehouses of IFUs . It ’ s electronic format versus the old-school binders of pages , so we worked with them to put the resources which techs and the nurses and others need at the decontamination step because certain things need to be disabled in Decon and there could be multiple pieces .”

Davis continues , “ It ’ s a tough , high-pressure , high-production , high-demand area , and it ’ s mission critical to healthcare delivery . And a lot of it comes down to comfort , and how processing is impacted by human factors engineering and ergonomics , and a lack of this can be linked to employee injuries . Hospitals are asking their technicians to do difficult work in a hot , moist environment in Decon where there ’ s steam , blood , tissue , and other bodily substances . So , the educational piece is not only all instruments that must be reprocessed properly , it ’ s also about keeping the technicians doing the work safe . Some facilities are more resourced than others and have an SPD educator . We ’ ve been in scenarios where they don ’ t have an SPD educator , but they have an operating room ( OR ) educator who knows the OR but doesn ’ t know SPD . We ’ ve had managers and directors of ORs and materials management who run SPDs who aren ’ t necessarily the best ones to provide education and training in the SPD . There ’ s a wall , culturally , between the OR and the SPD , and the OR might receive training from vendors , but the SPD needs a different approach . So , there ’ s some cultural issues , design issues and then resource issues around education and training , keeping it current , keeping it structured , and keeping it relevant .”

Exacerbating the issue further , in addition to pre-existing stressors on the healthcare sector , was the pandemic .

“ I have colleagues , masters-prepared , advanced-practice nurses , friends of mine who during and even post-pandemic have walked away from healthcare because of the lack of personal protective equipment , the high stress , the lack of recognition ,” Davis says . “ There has been a huge talent drain post-pandemic and the same thing has happened in the SPD .”

He continues , “ In my mind and in my experience , there ’ s a significant inequity with the pay scale in this kind of a mission-critical job . That ’ s not the hospital ’ s fault per say , because we all know that in healthcare in America , people are striving to meet a zero-profit margin ; if they get to 1 , that ’ s good , right ? But how can we find new ways to get pay scales up to reflect appreciation of the work that SPD techs do and to level the playing field ? An OR tech has the same importance as an SPD tech , or even more sometimes , so how can we work with the pay scales ? How can improve conditions in the SPD ? One of the biggest pet peeves I have is , a hospital will remodel its ORs , a profit center , going from 11 ORs to 25 ORs . But the SPD remains the same but now it must double its capacity of output with the same number of employees .”

Throughout this year ’ s healthcare tech hazards report , ECRI emphasizes shared accountability between stakeholders as one means to address and mitigate these hazards .

“ The shared accountability part of it comes into play especially during regulation- or

The Infection Prevention Exchange

By MD-Medical Data Quality & Safety Advisors , LLC

The IPEX Bundle

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