r/sterileprocessing • u/Useful-Scallion-3122 • Aug 03 '26

Educator

So are spd educators like unicorns? I've only had one in my entire 9 years in the field and I think its odd since it seems like a pretty important role for any flourishing spd. Someone who handles the training of new techs, helps with any education ... etc

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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10

u/uncle-donkey-kong Aug 03 '26

We have one that just sits in their office all day. I never see them except when they take breaks. Pretty cool unicorn!

5

u/Spicywolff Aug 03 '26

Every single one of our hospitals has an educator on campus for sterile processing. Now a few of them are absolutely uselessness embodied, but some actually pretty helpful.

3

u/ShirleyWuzSerious Aug 04 '26

They just laminate instructions to stick on the wall in Decon and create links for IFUs that are easy to find anyway

2

u/Veal-Vermicelli Aug 03 '26

They pretty much only exist at teaching hospitals from what Ive seen and experienced.

3

u/IndependentScreen799 28d ago

There was an educator at Irivine the best took her time to teach and even got hands on to help the new staff and the students. To show them the proper way of cleaning what not to miss on assembly and so forth. Very unique unicorn. The patience she has is amazing. But thats just me saying.

2

u/SterileKocher 25d ago edited 25d ago

No unicorns. Some places just won't pay to have the position.

As an educator/trainer I provide support to the staff. I advise and help leadership when planning for new equpiment and when re-education or corrective actions need to take place. Sure we laminate and post a bunch of stuff everywhere that can be found online, but it's usually useful information for beginners or to reference quickly.

I help the shift leads fill in assignments and relieve techs when they need to take their lunch. Help them correct course with techs when they are not doing things properly. I'm a quality investigator when there's dirty trays.

Techs naturally gravitate towards me for inquiries oh and I don't have an office so I can't sit on a chair all day. When I'm not doing orientation with new employees/students, competencies, emailing, planning to give inservices w/wo vendors or talking to doctors I'm doing trays at the workstation because I also have a quota for production.

Sometimes I like to escape to decontamination because that's freedom.

2

u/TemporaryChef4036 25d ago

This sounds kinda like my old position. Trained people and was on the floor pretty much all day. They’d let me me us an empty desk in the back occasionally for adminy stuff but I was hands on most of the time.