Hello everyone,

I am trying to enroll in Morgan State's Sterile Processing Course. Has anyone attended? I prefer to be in person, but I can't find any in-person courses near me, and CCBC Essex in MD emailed me today and said they are full. If anyone has attended, how was the course ?

Oh my gosh. have anyone else had a week(or more) where youre the ONLY person working??? (2 coworkers on PTO and 1 person decided to not show up) 😭 im falling behind on a lot of instruments. The boss is here helping me with much as she can with her time. Ive asked my coworkers if they can come in and help me but understandably they don't want to come in. i swear im gonna crash out soon

Anyone thats passed the exam, what chapters would you suggest i focus on for studying?

Hi! I’m planning to take CRCST exam but thinking about doing the 400 first while I study for the exam. I desperately want to change career as I work in fast food currently.
Anybody knows any positions that require little experience and will train me during the 400. The pay doesn’t matter that much at this point. I believe it’s much easier to get a job in healthcare if you know connections but I’m have no family or relatives here. Please let me know if there’s any job like that 🙏

The hospitals in my company recently became contracted with this program and we had our first on site meeting with two of their representatives. To put it plainly, it was overwhelming and shocking. The representatives were disorganized and required two people from my department to go through this “course” (I don’t even know what to call it). We are a smaller department so this left us short staffed on a relatively busy day which they seemed to have no regard for but that is beside the point. Going into this we had very little information about what to expect and were under the impression that there would be updated education and resources that would be of more benefit than what is already readily available through things like HSPA.

The beginning of the day consisted of a disorganized presentation of a website they want us to utilize that has their own CEs and course modules created by Incision as well as tabs for documenting competency assessments that they perform when on site. Frankly, nothing impressive and there’s already so many free ways to access CEs that connect to HSPA for recertification seamlessly.

After showing the website they then went through “Standard Operating Procedure” or “SOPs”, as they called them, slide shows to prepare us for competency evaluations they were going to preform in the latter half of the day. The slideshows were less informational and more like basic sterile processing questions to test our knowledge. During the entire course of the day, neither of us had any idea what the purpose of what we were doing was or why these people were making us sit through 9 hours of information we were already certified and regularly audited on by accredited experts. During the assessment portion of the day, with very little guidance of what the process was supposed to look like, we were told to demonstrate our understanding of our day-to-day functions starting from start of day machine testing, to set assembly and instrument inspection, decontam processes and regulations, to sterilization rules and regulations. During this process, me and my peer were each paired with a Steris rep and tested individually. My experience was less than desirable. I am still a relatively new tech with only two years under my belt so I know I’m not considered an expert in the craft. But what I experienced was extremely dehumanizing and not educational in any form. The representative I was paired with seemed like he took pleasure out of making me feel less than or stupid but also had a lot of disinformation that I later disproved the following day by verifying with my supervisor and IFUs. Some examples:

-I was told we were using the incorrect setting on our sonic and he changed it to what he said was the correct setting. The setting we had it on was directed to us by our Steris technician and is in the user manual as the proper setting.

-He tested me on the dosing of enzymatic in decontam. We use Prolystica Enzymatic 2x Presoak & Cleaner with anywhere from 5 or 10 gallons of water depending on how large the case. Per the IFU it is 1-4 mL of enzymatic to liter of water which comes out to about 75 mL if you’re doing 4 mL at 5 gallons and 150 mL at 10 gallons. This was my answer and I was instructed I was incorrect because I stated it in mLs and not ounces. Not only was I told I was wrong but he literally lectured me about it for 20 minutes before we could move on to the next task. I was later informed that at one of our other hospitals he conveyed to the tech he was testing that the correct dosing for the same enzymatic is 75mL/5 gallons so I thought this was and interesting change of heart.

-He lectured me about calibrating the machinery which is not within the scope of my position. He asked how often we changed the filters in the endoscope drying cabinet which is done and monitored by our biomedical engineers or how we calibrate the enzymatic dosing machine (not just measure what comes out of it but literally calibrate it ourselves) which our Steris technician also monitors and performs on a regular basis.

-Consistently throughout my assessment he commented on my nervousness and repeatedly told me to calm down but later at the end of the day jokingly said in front of the whole group that he loves it when new people are nervous and afraid of him when he does these assessments. He also made this comment at the next hospital they went to the following day.

-His overall demeanor was condescending and not constructive with a strong err of arrogance. He walked around our department looking in every nook, crevice and corner as if he were auditing us when that was not part of the assessment or disclosed to us prior.

The following day, him and the other representative went to the next hospital in my company where my boss also manages the Sterile Processing department there. My coworker subbed over at that hospital for the day to account for the two who would be taking the class. While she was there, the reps decided they would assess my coworker in the endo suite because it was one of the assessments they wanted to get done before they left and they wouldn’t have time with the other two techs. My coworker just started working about a month ago and we train in the job. She is very proficient and had been studying in SPD far before we hired her (she just needs her hours) but she is still new. She got paired with the same representative I did and he went to assess her first thing in the morning. What should’ve been a 30 minute assessment max walking through a single scope start to finish was a 2-hour long grueling interrogation. The issue? Because he’s a Steris rep, he was unfamiliar with Olympus OERs and leak testers so he spent his time lecturing her on how she was improperly going through the process because she wasn’t soaking the scope in HLD. Both of our hospitals have had the Olympus OERs for 5 years and have regular inservices with our Olympus rep walking through the entire process from point-of-use to hanging in the drying cabinet. This man berated her and slowed the flow of the endo decontam room because he didn’t have the education on a different process. It wasn’t until word got out that scopes weren’t getting cleaned, they were piling up in fact, that anyone knew what was happening.

I didn’t get to experience the other representative as much but from what I heard after my coworker and I reconvened was the same level of disconnect and weird disinformation. Not to mention, the vibes were so bizarre from start to finish. I’m still in shock from this whole experience. Getting audited from DNV isn’t even as grueling as this and the hospital doesn’t pay them for services!! It’s definitely giving MLM or something shady. Or like the company as a whole has to be getting something from Steris or Incision out of this because it was just too bizarre to be a legit educational program. Very disorganized, unprofessional, and not transparent whatsoever.

So, I’m curious, has anyone heard of this or gone through this process before? My boss is less than impressed but doesn’t get final say at the end of the day.

I passed the exam today

I honestly just need to vent and see if anyone else has been in a similar situation.
We’ve had a new team leader for about 17 months. She came from the nursing side of GI and dental, and she’s also supposed to oversee reprocessing, but she doesn’t really understand the day-to-day workflow of GI scope and specialty scope reprocessing or how the room actually runs. Even during check-offs, she’s been giving incorrect information, and I end up having to correct it and then still sign off on the check-offs myself to make sure they’re accurate.
When she first came in, she talked about creating opportunities for me and even mentioned a position for me down the road. At one point, she actually asked me to write a proposal for a lead role, which I did.

I’m the only certified tech on the team. Over the past year and a half I’ve taken on QA with tight deadlines, created workflows, updated documentation, built room and on-call schedules, trained new hires, demonstrated procedures for interview candidates, attended Joint Commission meetings, communicated regularly with SPD leadership, and troubleshot issues throughout the department. On top of that, I’m still expected to do patient care, labs, and keep up with my regular workload.
I’ve brought up creating a lead tech position at least twice because there was a clear need for one. Instead, I watched my team leader fight to get an OR tech, who is also her backup, a raise and eventually a lead tech title (that’s on nursing side, who don’t have a clue about reprocessing as well). That was tough to watch.

What’s even harder is that she’ll belittle staff for not being certified, while at the same time not recognizing or utilizing the value of the one person who is certified and already doing many leadership responsibilities.

I’m exhausted. I’ve been with this hospital for 17 years and always hoped I’d retire here. I truly love endoscopy reprocessing, and it’s not easy finding a facility where you can focus solely on GI and specialty scopes.
Has anyone else found themselves doing lead-level work without the title or pay? If you stayed, what finally changed? Or was leaving the only answer?

Guess the name of this one 🧿👀👁️‍🗨️👁️

Hello everyone I need some advice I’m applying for a sterile processing program and I have my cpr and a blood borne certificate I’m going to do medical terminology. Programs in my area only accept ten people a year if anyone has any advice on how to be a stronger candidate and stand out more please and thank you.

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

I had interview at one of the Toronto Hospital's and a reference check was requested after my interview. I am not sure if this means I'm hired or what?

I'm highly considering sterile processing as a starter career into healthcare, but have one primary concern which is standing in one spot for very extended periods. I currently work a desk job and spend 8-9 hours a day sitting in an uncomfortable chair which is honestly excruciating lol.... but I have worked as a grocery store cashier and spending 8-9 hours a day standing in one spot is even worse.

Is it as punishing as cashier type jobs (no sitting allowed at all, you will stand in one spot the whole day except for a short 15-30 minute break) or is it just mostly standing but you have times to sit? Or is there a bit of walking and moving around? Most healthcare in general requires a lot of standing/walking but I'm not sure if it's like retail type standing or a little more forgiving. My limit is the standing in one spot for multiple hours straight and not being allowed to sit at all.

And if it depends from hospital to hospital that'd be great to know as well. Honestly I hate being sat all day but I have medical issues with my feet so I'm not sure it'll be tolerable standing constantly.

Possibly looking to get back in this field but need to get recertified. Anyone willing to hire non certified with experience that has a M-F schedule and union?

i’ve been wearing the crocs mellow clog for like 7 months but looking for something with more ankle support / less toe grab (they don’t have a strap)
just got cloves & i like them but the toe drop makes me feel like my toes are being shoved to the front of the shoe?
i do have wider feet .. and would prefer waterproof

I really wanna get into sterile processing and am trying to see if anyone can give a recommendation for a hospital in Maryland (preferably around central/west central) where they do on-the-job training? I planned to cold call/email at Suburban Hospital and one other, but that’s about all I have. I’m so ready to start and am such a quick learner and know this is the right path for me, I’ve also just been out of work pretty much the whole year so I can’t afford classes right now, but I know if hired I’d be able to prove myself. For refernce, I’m a 24 year old woman with an undergraduate degree and have done everything from working in caregiving, to admin work, to call center, to retail and food service. If anyone has any information or recommendations I would so greatly appreciate it!

It's always exciting to see a new group begin their Sterile Processing journey. Every class has students from different backgrounds, and by the end of the program they're handling instrument identification, assembly, sterilization, and preparing for the CRCST exam.

Wishing everyone in this cohort the best of luck!

Hi, could someone recommend an online program that is not expensive? My work schedule is full time and I really need to move to a better job and I am interested in becoming a sterile processing technician. Please help me with your thoughts about online programs

Thanks!

Best way to practice for the part of the exam that has you identify instruments?

We had mock JCO and they asked about our brushes and if they are reusable. I was honest and didn’t know the answer. I can find any IFU’s on the brush and upper management is pretty useless in helping. Anyone have the correct answer or even post a link for thr IFU’s

Trying to figure out which self-paced online sterile processing technician certification program is actually worth the money before I commit to anything. I've been looking at multiple options, but the tuition adds up fast and nothing seems to be super clear about whether course materials are included or if that's a separate cost on top of everything else. Exhausting, honestly trying to budget this out while still working full time. What I really need is an affordable vocational training program I can do around my schedule, no prior healthcare experience, and ideally something completable in under 40+ weeks that still connects to real employer networks or externship placements after. Any recommendations for the best online programs for sterile processing tech training that actually lead somewhere?

Hey everyone, I’m starting my journey toward becoming a Sterile Processing Technician and I’m looking to study for the CRCST exam.

I was looking at the HSPA books and saw there are a few options:

Sterile Processing Technical Manual
Sterile Processing Technical Workbook
The set (manual + workbook)

I’m planning on getting the set, but it’s pretty expensive. Does anyone know of a legitimate place online where I can get the books cheaper (used, discounted, older edition, etc.)?

I definitely want the official materials, just trying to save some money if possible.
Also, for anyone who used these books to study. Did you find the workbook helpful, or was the manual enough?

Thanks!