1. Train and
certify
It starts with making
sure people are
properly trained,
says Frank Myers,
M.A., CIC, a third-
level infection pre-
ventionist in the UC
San Diego Health
System and a mem-
ber of the
Association for
Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) Practice
Guidance Council. Facilities often hire nurses and medical assistants
who have no experience with sterilization, he says.
"I've seen a tabletop sterilizer literally being crammed full of
instruments well beyond its capacity," he says. "The staff at this
facility didn't understand that that was not the way to run a steriliz-
er. They didn't have a person there who was really competent."
The added danger is that a lack of competence can be baked into
facility culture and passed down to future hires, says Mark Duro,
CRCST, FCS, director of sterile processing operations at New
England Baptist Hospital in Boston.
"Most sterile processing departments get their staff through environ-
mental services, patient transport, or somebody just randomly walking
in without any real background or knowledge," says Mr. Duro, who
consults with numerous hospitals. "Their training might be, Well, this
is how we do it here. That mindset needs to change."
One answer, he says, is to require certification of sterile processing
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O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5
z EDUCATION MATTERS If
sterile processing staff aren't
properly trained and certified,
a lack of competence can be
passed down to future hires.
