Job Relevance
Total responses to date = 222. Answers were as follows:
Please rate the following topics on their relevance
to your job:
Medical Terminology
- Very important 135 (60.81%)
- Important 81 (36.49%)
- Not very important 6 (2.70%)
Microbiology
- Very important 125 (56.31%)
- Important 83 (37.39%)
- Not very important 14 (6.31%
Infection Control Protocols
- Very important 210 (94.59%)
- Important 12 (5.41%)
- Not very important 0 (0.00%)
Cleaning and Decontamination
- Very important 217 (97.75%)
- Important 5 (2.25%)
- Not very important 0 (0.00%)
Disinfection
- Very important 207 (93.24%)
- Important 14 (6.31%)
- Not very important 1 (0.45%)
Endoscope processing
- Very important 151 (68.02%)
- Important 55 (24.77%)
- Not very important 16 (7.21%)
Equipment management
- Very important 120 (54.05%)
- Important 85 (38.29%)
- Not very important 17 ( 7.66%)
Surgical instrument inspection and assembly
- Very important 202 (90.99%)
- Important 18 (8.11%)
- Not very important 2 (0.90%)
Packaging
- Very important 190 (85.59%)
- Important 28 (12.61%)
- Not very important 4 (1.80%)
Steam sterilization
- Very important 211 (95.05%)
- Important 9 (4.05%)
- Not very important 2 (0.90%)
Dry heat sterilization
- Very important 56 (25.23%)
- Important 53 (23.87%)
- Not very important 113 (50.90%)
Ethylene oxide sterilization
- Very important 111 (50.00%)
- Important 55 (24.77%)
- Not very important 56 (25.23%)
Gas plasma sterilization
- Very important 141 (63.51%)
- Important 46 (20.72%)
- Not very important 35 (15.77%)
Ozone sterilization
- Very important 46 (20.72%)
- Important 63 (28.38%)
- Not very important 113 (50.90%)
Sterilization quality assurance
- Very important 208 (93.69%
- Important 11 (4.95%)
- Not very important 3 (1.35%)
Sterile storage and environmental requirements
- Very important 177 (79.73%)
- Important 43 (19.37%)
- Not very important 2 (0.90%)
Regulatory compliance
- Very important 191 (86.04%)
- Important 29 (13.06%)
- Not very important 2 (0.90%)
Safety
- Very important 204 (91.89%)
- Important 18 (8.11%)
- Not very important 0 (0.00%)
Inventory control
- Very important 137 (61.71%)
- Important 76 (34.23%)
- Not very important 9 (4.05%)
Distribution
- Very important 114 (51.35%)
- Important 88 (39.64%)
- Not very important 20 (9.01%)
Human relations
- Very important 167 (75.23%)
- Important 50 (22.52%)
- Not very important 5 (2.25%)
Information systems and computer technology
- Very important 118 (53.15%)
- Important 87 (39.19%)
- Not very important 17 (7.66%)
What other topic areas (not mentioned above) do you feel have a significant
impact on your job? Please specify.
Answers included:
- Teamwork
- Working with other departments. Creating a team environment.
Selling the department to senior management Education/Mandatory certification
- Quality Improvement programs. Policy writing
- Time management/ Prioritation Customer service ( may fall under
HR)
- Communication with our customers. SP Dept staff relationship
with OR staff.
- Medical Terminology as related to surgical procedures. Verbal
communication. I think management should be broken out and is less
relevant to certifying technicians.
- The amount of OR cases in a day, Stat backs on loner Instruments.
- Human anatomy and physiology
- Higher pay for what we do. We are not paid for the professionals
that we are.
- Proper training for all employees on a continuous basis so that
every employee is proficient in each area.In other words properly
rotate each person so that they don't stay in one area so long that
they don't know how to do anything else and become less trained then
the new employees being trained.
- Inter department relations
- We need to stick to the basics more, they are what make up quality
work,the heavy focus on microbiology is not necessary as we kneed
to know the process to kill, not what shape or is is positive or
negative a spore is. We don't see them, our emphasis is on destroying
them, not analyzing them. That is a lab technician role. The proven
basics are what is needed.
- Budget Control Human Resources Time Management
- Apart from human relations is Ethics and Morals these 2 play
a very big role in how well you provide a service for the patient
indirectly.
- Dept team building, relationships between CSSD and OR
- Sterile Technique
- Process improvements
- Budget, Vendors, loaner instruments
- Capital Purchases Budget impacts Equipment service contracts
- Interpersonal relations within the Dept. and conflicts among
co-workers - lack of team player attitude and pride in work performance.
Lack of recognition and respect from the O. R. staff and surgical
services upper management for the importance and impact of Sterile
Processing Dept. responsibilities and duties. Certified and trained
Sterile Processing Tech's being classified as "service employees" and
pay scale reflecting this opinion from Hospital Admin.and HR.
- Lack of younger & newer OR staff both RN & tech's on all
CSR information.
- Morale and having a supervisor taking you serious when one feels
there is a problem. We don't do endoscope processing in Central Sterile
where I work. It is done elsewhere, so is the reason it is not important
to me.
- Employee Relations.
- Loaner trays and sterilization recommendations, Problems with
plastic trays
- Customer service
- Anything regarding how the equipment/instruments is/are used
in patient care. As an Instrument Technician, I am most curious how
the instruments I am processing are used in surgery. Regretfully,
the Patient Confidentiality laws have squashed any possibility of
observing surgeries.
- Guidelines for minimum safe processing for turn around instrumentation.
- I think we need a tool for in house departmental testing, graded
by our educators.
- Customer Service Performance
- Budget/Financial Controls Surgical Instrument Tray Tracking Employee
Productivity & Quality Control
- Communication with the or dept. need to be improved.
- In our experience, the process of "loaner" instrument handling
is becoming more important and consumes more and more of technician's
time.
- Proper training of decontam and sterile processing personnel
- Weight and size of trays (loaners) protocol from venders on
sterilization time for these trays.
- Interactions with coworkers
- How to read the print outs on washers and the different sterilizers.
How to interpret and record the documentation for biological monitoring.
Understanding implantable medical devices.
- Steris systems ones and Understanding Endoscopic instrumentation,
Training to scrub in Endoscopic procedures leaning all about this
type of instrumentation. Leadership classes in SPD, more educational
programs.
- To know policies and procedures. To have knowledge of AMMI. standards
or able to research your references so you are able to make the right
decisions when a problem arises .
- Critical thinking and problem solving skills, the importance
of good and supportive teamwork. ergonomics (much repetitive work)
C.E.U.'s being registered and or certified keeps goals uniform and
in compliance. Good working relationship with O.R. Need for strong
management to enforce rules and regulations uniformly and take control
of solving problems immediately.
- Respect on the job. employees english language skills, communication
with O.R. new employees being properly trained before they are allowed
to work on their own.
- Assembly, is there a proper way to assemble trays. Keeping up
with latest trends, such as tracking systems and tray labeling.
- Cost Accounting Staffing
- There exists much possibility for "tech's" to not hold
themselves accountable for maintaining standards. I see this as
poor performance by the enforcement agencies that have the power
to mandate to administrative personnel (who would rather look at
the bottom line)to follow through on what their printed protocols
state they are doing.
- Team building and standardization between the multiple hospitals
- Continuing Education-- Planning, design & construction of
new SPD departments.
- Stress management
- TOGETHTER WE; (smart people downstairs) we make the differences
Amen.
Are you a...
- Technician 76 (34.23%)
- Manager 96 (43.24%)
- Other 50 (22.53%)
Our
thanks to all those who responded.
Back to survey
results
