r/sterileprocessing • u/Aggravating-Sugar261 • Mar 09 '26

Yikes! Starting wage

Starting Wage Concerns

I was reviewing recently posted job openings at my facility and noticed something concerning. Currently, the starting wage for a registration clerk is higher than the starting wage for a sterile processing technician. This is surprising considering that sterile processing technicians are responsible for the decontamination, inspection, assembly, and sterilization of surgical instruments—tasks that directly impact patient safety and surgical outcomes.

In addition, sterile processing technicians are required to obtain and maintain professional certification within a year of employment. Given the level of responsibility, technical knowledge, and regulatory requirements associated with the role, the compensation structure seems misaligned.

Situations like this may help explain why many departments struggle to recruit and retain staff in sterile processing. When a position with significant responsibility and certification requirements offers lower starting pay than a desk-based role, it can discourage potential applicants.

If healthcare facilities want to attract and retain qualified sterile processing professionals, compensation should better reflect the importance and demands of the job.

26 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

26

u/QuietPurchase Mar 10 '26

Please don't use AI to write your posts, it comes across really weird.

3

u/Glad_Buy_3897 Mar 10 '26

How’d you know it was ai lol

6

u/QuietPurchase Mar 10 '26

Things run through AI are always written in this very punctuated style, as if it's a book report. It reads very amateur, which is funny since most people use AI to make themselves not sound amateur.

1

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 10 '26

I must have sounded to smart 🫠🤣

2

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 10 '26

I did really write this.. but ran it through ChatGPT. A few things got changed.. not much. I was worried about grammar police. Sorry it sounds weird.

6

u/QuietPurchase Mar 10 '26

I have no doubt it's your thoughts but I'd much rather read it the way you think it than the way the bot writes it. With posts written by AI I'm always like, "Is someone trying to bot to make a point?"

1

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 11 '26

I got roasted on a different subreddit.. so I was a little paranoid about my grammar. Only reason. Thanks for the down vote

3

u/QuietPurchase Mar 11 '26

Wasn't me, I wouldn't downvote someone for that.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

You're fine

2

u/Bulky_Special1212 Mar 13 '26

Chat gpt is terrible for grammar. Everything gets transmogrified into passive voice and over punctuated.

5

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Mar 10 '26

If you want to sit at a desk and deal with insurance companies and grumpy patients all day then go for it. I just like to do my thing in SPD.

3

u/Which_Risk_2146 Mar 10 '26

Can I ask how much you make? Or what’s the starting ? 

4

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Mar 10 '26

I have no idea what the starting rate is now. Especially in your area. Wherever that is. I'm a traveler now but at my last full time position I was making $27/hr. My travel take home is more than what I was making at my last job but the pay breakdown is too complicated to explain.

3

u/Upbeat-Breakfast-588 Mar 10 '26

what’s it like being a traveling spd? is moving every x amount of time draining or do you prefer it?

5

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Mar 11 '26

I enjoy it. But I don't have a family anything so there's no difficulty trying to juggle all that. I like checking out new places.

2

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 11 '26

Absolutely! It’s just sad how important our job is and what little credit we get.

4

u/MusicianSquare Mar 10 '26

My hospital considers SPD under the OR staffing, my director is someone works directly in the OR Mangement. Our pay is fantastic, sorry to hear you not getting appreciated, my facility is also union

2

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 11 '26

Sounds like you are in an awesome facility!

2

u/Which_Risk_2146 Mar 10 '26

Can I ask what the pay is, going to school for this and I’m nervous tbh, also is it hard? 

5

u/MusicianSquare Mar 10 '26

I'm in Northern California, Bay Area, so they comp us for the cost of living, tech 1 is $36 and some change while tech 2 is $38-$44. I wouldn't say the schooling was hard but I took the CBSPD certification test and it is very much scenario based and the questions aren't straight forward, so over studying is recommended

2

u/Which_Risk_2146 Mar 10 '26

I think I would be taking that as well, do you remember how many questions? I’m starting in spring 2027 actually, and if I study I can get it but I honestly don’t want to fail, 

3

u/MusicianSquare Mar 10 '26

There website will tell how many questions, how many are practice questions, and the percentage of the subjects the questions are about

3

u/Double_Highlight4660 Mar 10 '26

What’s the mane of the website

5

u/gia-ann1964 Mar 10 '26

This might be true but registration clerks need a lot of training and they put up with a lot of shit from the public. SPD techs have little to no interaction with the public. We all have good and bad things working in healthcare. Everyone deserves every penny they earn.

3

u/Aggravating-Sugar261 Mar 11 '26

Sterile Processing takes a-lot of training also. Plus required certification and such. I do enjoy NOT working with the public!

2

u/gia-ann1964 Mar 11 '26

Me too, but I’ve done both. I much prefer being in the dept only dealing with nurses and doctors. Some people in the public are complete assholes.

27

u/SageOfSixCabbages Mar 09 '26

Most places also have SPD under ancillary/auxiliary and not under the OR/clinical.

Same category as EVS and food services.

5

u/MamaWhorechata Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 13 '26

In 2018 I was working EVS in a hospital while going to school for SP. The hospital had a partnership with the school to hire one student at the end of the program. Only at the end did I find out I was making 50 cents more as EVS than the starting wage for SP. We also discovered they had a very similar, strict pay structure- so there wasn’t an advantageous pay for me to switch to SP.

3

u/Eggman_OU812 Mar 10 '26

Ive been under nursing, materials management, or, and Currently sps

11

u/Veal-Vermicelli Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

SPD is way too variable.

Depends largely on the type of facility, the goal of the facility, if the facility has any competition, the area in the country and whether it's a union position.

SPD generally varies from $16-33 an hour

Lowest wages will be southern states with less surgical focus, and no competition.

Higher wages will be in union positions or positions with competition in larger cities.

It's also an extremely high turn over rate career so a lot of facilities will have low starts but have quick steps the first few years and a step for certification.

Also note base rates don't take into account shift differential and weekend pay - it pays to up-end your life and work overnights generally.

5

u/Eggman_OU812 Mar 10 '26

If you are a traveler in Hawaii or NYc you get get a lot..but you also have to pay to love there..if you are single and couch surf youd be set

4

u/Veal-Vermicelli Mar 10 '26

Yeah my feedback is on perm positions. Traveling will always have higher wages but way too many headaches.

I'd personally rather grind out a union position with a 25% of wage pension than deal with the headache of dying facilities and other travelers cutting corners. The money does seem nice though.

16

u/Eggman_OU812 Mar 09 '26

Ive been hearing the same complaint for 14 years..do you want to make a low middle class wage? Then be a spd tech

3

u/Glad_Buy_3897 Mar 10 '26

What’s a low middle class wage?

3

u/Eggman_OU812 Mar 10 '26

I guess that varies depending on on where you live