Processing Perspectives

ISSUE NO. 792

Working in sterile processing (SP) usually begins as a foot in the door for many of us in healthcare. A friend told you about an opening at the hospital that didn’t require formal training or a degree, so you said you’re all in.

Maybe you thought that working in the hospital would be fun, or you believed that you could make a difference in someone’s life by working in a department tied to surgery. But you didn’t quite know what you were signing up for, and here you are today. Is the role how you imagined it would be?

For many, it has become an incredible career. You have gotten your certification and learned so much, and you know deep down that you get to be a part of patient safety, and it’s turned into a full-fledged career you love. Yet we don’t always keep perspective as our careers carry on. This article is for you if you find yourself struggling to keep your chin up when the demands put upon you continually rise, and your level of motivation to stay the course is dwindling.

Your loved one is on the table.

The caliber of our work and the quality of our output shouldn’t change on any given day, yet somehow, it all shifts when someone we love is on the table: our mother or father, our aunt or uncle, or a dear friend.

You get the set out of decon, and suddenly, you assess every instrument with incredible scrutiny. You test the scissors with the proper materials, use the borescope to look in lumens, check the teeth of Adson forceps, check the inserts of needle holders, and then you string the instruments and gently lay them into the set with a gold seal of approval. You say to yourself, “If this set were used on my loved one, I’d get behind that.”

It can be hard to do that with every set when you are held to productivity standards, but it is so much easier to do so when you imagine it is someone close to you.

A cool trick of the trade is to take a photo of someone you care about deeply and pop it into your scrubs. As you clean, assemble, and wrap, give that pocket a little tap when you get overwhelmed and remind yourself how you’d do your job if it were for the person in your pocket.

You are on the table.

Now let’s take it a step further. What if, on your way home from your shift, you were in a car accident and rushed to your hospital for emergency surgery? Would the sets you reprocessed today being used on you be impeccable?

Again, perspective.

Everyone on the table.

You get what we’re hinting at here. Your work matters, and how you do your work every day can impact positive patient outcomes. Sometimes we have to imagine that the person on the receiving end of surgery is someone we care about dearly, and that changes the way we do things dramatically.

Considerations for paying attention to detail (rephrase?).

When we have a full plate in SP, it can be so hard to take these hard pauses and scrutinize every detail, but here are a few suggestions that can help you slow your roll and feel confident about your output.

1. If you have questions, never hesitate to ask.
2. Create mental and physical checklists and processes that work for you. Yes, of course, we have departmental checklists and inventory sheets, but create an order in which you execute these and do not deviate from it.
3. Pay attention to education. Continuing education and in-services exist to help you stay at the top of your game. Take them seriously and choose a learning modality that works for you when getting your CEUs.
4. Stop, drop, and do not roll (because our department floor isn’t a place for you to be). In all seriousness though, do take the time to stop when you are overwhelmed and take a big pause (slow down), drop anything that isn’t the number one priority in front of you, and roll with the hypothetical punches that get dished our way every day.

The next time you show up to work, remember to keep perspective and ask yourself if it was your loved one or me on the table, would you be doing my job the same way? You do great work, and we all know that the job you thought you were walking into and the one you execute every day is way different than you originally imagined. Keep up the great work, and stay grounded in your outlook.

Rebecca Kinney