1 6 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • M A R C H 2 0 2 0
Ideas Work
That
T
he sterile process-
ing department is
not an easy place to
work. If you want to make
sure new sterile processing
techs mesh well with the
current team and under-
stand exactly what the crit-
ical job entails, let your
current SPD staff members
interview potential new
hires. Whenever we're
thinking of adding reprocessing techs, I give our SPD staff a pool of
candidates and allow them to set up interviews with prospective new
hires. Although they do have a form of ready-made questions to refer-
ence, there's room for improvisation. These peer interviews give the
people who are actually going to work with a new person the chance
to have more of a say in what matters most when we're hiring. Of
course, I also conduct interviews, during which I make the candidate
dress in scrubs, walk the department, and see and hear the main objec-
tives of the job. But our SPD staff are the ones who have the final say
on new hires. On top of empowering them to find the best person for
the job, the peer interview process has improved camaraderie and
morale throughout the entire department.
Jan Prudent, BA, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CFER
Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
Idaho Falls, Idaho
brenda.prudent@hcahealthcare.com
PEER INTERVIEWS
Let Sterile Processing Staff Choose Their Colleagues
• LINE OF QUESTIONING Your current employees know what it takes to
make it in the sterile processing department and can help you identify can-
didates who will be successful new hires.
Colleen
McIntier