Sterile Processing Technician

Sterile Processing Technician

Position Summary:

The Sterile Processing Technician is responsible for all decontamination, cleaning, inspecting, packaging, sterilizing, and labeling of reusable items; assisting in facilitating the daily surgery schedule; intake of facility supplies. The Sterile Processing Tech should be familiar with and supportive of the facility's policies and procedures.

Accountable to: Director of Nursing

Responsibilities:

Sterile Processing Technician duties will consist of, but are not limited to:

• Sorts, cleans, and decontaminates all instruments, equipment, and other reusable items.
• Examines, inspects, and tests equipment and instruments, and is current on all cleaning and decontamination procedures.
• Operates sterilizers according to manufacturer’s guidelines.
• Follows proper procedures for items being sterilized.
• Sets up, packages, or wraps all reusable items for terminal sterilization.
• Knows how to identify instruments and can recognize shortages of instruments and equipment from trays and sets.
• Labels and documents all forms, stickers, charts, graphs, etc., that are involved in terminal sterilization and quality assurance according to policy.
• Maintains required logs.
• Intakes supplies, verifying with packing slips, and distributes to designated areas.
• Assists with O.R. turnover as time permits.
• Assists with case picking as time permits.
• Assists with supply re-ordering to designated par levels.
• Participates in training, orientation, and staff development programs.
• Presents a professional image representing O.R. service to patients and personnel.
• Must file an incident report for any unusual event that occurs to a patient or member of staff; this would include, but not be limited to, falls, needlestick injuries, aspiration of gastric contents, allergic reactions, and disruptive behavior by staff or patients. Also required to report any incidences or alleged incidences of abuse, harassment, or injury to self, other employees, or patients occurring at the Center or relating to the Center. Further specifications can be found in the Abuse Reporting documents and Code of Safe Practices, provided by the Director of Nursing.

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Qualifications:

• Must have high-school diploma or equivalent.
• At least one-year of Sterile Processing experience, or completion of a Central Service Technical Course, or related background in instrumentation, supply and equipment purchasing, nursing, or comparable area.
• Knowledge of sterilization and asepsis techniques.
• Basic knowledge of microbiology and infection control.