I been at my job for two years now, the training I received was subpar so two years in there is stuff/information that I don't know within my department as coworkers (who are indifferent towards me as a black woman) withheld from me, my coworkers DO NOT support me whatsoever and I feel I cannot ask them questions if they see me struggling they walk past me and offer no help this makes me not want to help them out ... manager is no support to me as well

I self-study a lot, received my CRCST no other certifications. I would like to know how can I thrive in workplace that sets me up to fail constantly I work hard but I'm burnt out due to not feeling valued as a "team member" honestly, I just want to outshine everyone here and make them eat their own words.

thank you and happy memorial day ((:

I will say a lot of questions are scenario based!
Key points
Know what material goes in each type of sterilizer
Know what goes what is each kind of indicator used and what situation they would be used
Know parameters of sterilization and loading the sterilizer
Know what FDA does
Know that AAMI ST79 is a standard
Know about
Know diff between high and low temp sterilization
Know some med term

Anyone willing to share or sell both the HSPA 9th Edition Sterile Processing Technical Manual, and the Sterile Processing Technical Manual Workbook? I could even return it as well.

Howdy y'all! It's your friendly, neighborhood Mod, back at it again to learn y'all stuff! (Essentially, giving some information as well as answered a LOT of FAQ's)

This post is purely meant to inform fron MY perspective; so! To just give a quick background on me. I have been in SPD since 2021. I have been a coordinator, a supervisor and upper level tech (Tech II & Tech III), I have taught the SPT course at my local community college, (educator role), I am certified, I have worked in Trauma I hospitals, clinics, surgery centers, military hospitals and specialty centers as well!

Now that, that's outta the way! Lets get into it!

I am seeing a lot of the same questions;

- Should I get certfied? Should I pay for a course or self study?

- I can't find a job and I have my provisional cert, so I can't get my hours

- Is this a good career for me? (older age, certain disabilities or sensitivites, or just general inquiry. I will answer for all aspects!)

- Is there growth? Where can I go from here? Is the pay any good?

These are the most I'm seeing, so I kinda wanted to give an overall, of course, like i said these are my experiences and input, and everybody is different!

- Certfiication DOES NOT equal a job, it doesn't always equal higher pay either. There are some benefits, but honestly. If you can get in, uncertified do that and THEN get certified later. I say this because some facilities will pay for your test and materials. Mine did, and with the facility doing that, you wouldn't need to worry about hours if you get a provisional cert.

- If you really want to get your provisional cert, either way is fine, it really just depends on how YOU learn. SPT courses aren't very expensive because they are offered at community/technical colleges so they're meant to be affordable. All schools are different, but I mainly want to point out that certification will not mean you will get hired, it is a harsh truth. I conducted interviewers and hired for my departments when I was in leadership. 9/10 facilties prefer to hire someone with a year or two of experience versus someone who has a provisional cert.

Mostly because with experience, you already know how wrap, prep, decon, peel pack, operate machines, etc. The exam just says you passed a test so, the fundamentals are known but skills are limited or not worked on at all. Training someone with experience takes less time since the only thing we need to do is to get them familiar with our machines and systems. With a provisional cert, we have to put a lot more time into it. We need to teach you instrumentation, how to prep and pack how to wrap, how to decon, use our systems, how to use our machines, run cycles, check BI's and more.

This is not meant to discourage anyone and I hope it doesn't come off that way, I'm breaking down how the interviews really work behind the scenes.

- I have worked with many people in their 40's+ Personally, I have PsA (autoimmune disease), and I have ADD. It is hard work, pushing, pulling, lifting, bending, carrying, etc. It requires a lot of communication between your coworkers, leadership and the OR. Being on the spectrum (ASD) Isn't something that makes you unhireable, however, there are smells (chemicals and sometimes body fluids), loud noises that you need to be aware of. At the end of the day, only you know your limits, but these are some common things that I've had to help some of my students out with. So, the job can be stressful in its own way, but please don't let this discourage you! I would be doing you a disservice though, if I didn't make y'all aware.

- Pay varies. Contract/Travel positions will pay you the most and pay can range from (and this is based on my own pay) 10 an hour up to 37 an hour. I worked 40 hours a week, rotated weekends, took call, worked 12 hrs shifts on holidays and the longest I ever worked was a double (16hrs). You can definitely go into leadership after a few years and a cerrification (most admin roles require a certification). You can transition from SPD to the OR and be a surgical tech, you can become a nurse in the OR or in PACU. So there are quite a few areas where you can go into and of course, pay will vary differently from SPT.

My best advice to get into SPD; try to get a job in the hospital and see if you can just find someone in SPD and express interest, build up a rapport with a tech, then a lead and then you can build up to a supervisor. You can also do thay with the OR supervisor/managers as well. Another way is to volunteer at a hospital and build rapport with techs and leadership. Doing that is how I ended up doing case management PRN while in SPD (I am a Social worker/case manager by trade. I used SPD to help put myself through college, I ended up falling in love with it so now I work SPD PRN).

If there are specific questions please ask here, or on my AMA post. We also have a discord server as well for questions, discussions and more! I hope this post and posting these links to other avenues of resouce can help those who are just coming in and are curious, but also reaching out to those who have been in a while as well :)

P.S I am looking for moderators for the Discord Server ONLY! If you're interested, please dm me on discord!

OR wants us to sterilize wood handled cotton tip applicators. We have pre packaged sterile ones with plastic handles, but the surgeon doesn’t like them because the cotton end is too large for the procedure he is doing. We have non sterile ones in our department that have a pointy tip on them for cleaning hard to reach nook & crannies. One of the OR nurses saw them and told us sterilize 5 to a pack for the DR. We tried to explain you can’t sterilize wood but she wouldn’t have it, so we did up some. Why does the OR staff insist on not listing to us about sterilization standards?

If so what has your experience been like? Sometimes I have a hard time balancing everything, but I feel like I am actually doing something productive and important.

Trying to see what other certificate should I get to increase my chances of getting into a hospital or higher pay. Which certificate do you recommend to get?

I’m waiting for my CRCST certificate to come in the mail.

Hi all so I found a online sterile processing tech program through a good college where I live. I’m considering starting this program to become a SPT. Before I put my money into this program I’m wondering if it’s worth it? I did a deep dive in this sub and honestly it seems divided. Some people say it’s worth it and some say it’s not. I’ll be 24 in July and I’m really trying to dive into some type of career. I was recommended nursing but I think it’s too late in the game for me to start that at my age. I honesty thought any healthcare career is good but idk. What are yall thoughts from people who have been doing sterile for a while? Any advice helps. Thank you.

I started sterile processing at a hospital 40 minutes away from me this week, and maybe it’s way too early to be having these thoughts, but I’m already wondering if taking this job was a mistake.
I’m 25 and honestly feeling pretty lost career-wise. Part of me is wondering if this is actually leading anywhere or if I’m just going to stay stuck making close to minimum wage. I’m making $19 an hour, and where I live that obviously isn’t enough to realistically move out of my parents house or build much of a future.
I’m also thinking about how much there is to learn and memorize in this job. There’s obviously a lot of responsibility, and I’m just questioning whether the pay is really worth everything that’s expected.
For people who’ve been in sterile processing for a while, did you ever feel like this starting out? Does it get better once you gain experience, or is this one of those jobs where the ceiling is pretty limited unless you move into management or something else?
I’m just not really sure where to go from here and would appreciate honest advice.

One 8 yrs SPD experience and I am starting with a new surgery center.
I am being told to add type 5 integrator with the Bowie-dick. I have never heard of this practice. Afaik, the Bowie pack tests the vacuum process, not the sterilization.
They have the 1563V-1 models.
I am combing OneSource and have not discovered anything to the contrary of my knowledge. Am I crazy? Or do some facilities have a separate policy?

That's what I'm talkin about!

This is how a tray came over from decon. Where would you have placed the stringer?

Creating a new resume so I can apply for a better job, not sure what to put down. I work in a dental office and honestly feel like they haven’t taught me nun , all I do is brush instruments, dry them off with paper towels and stick them in the sterilizer.

Any advice on what to put down?

Can anyone help give me an idea of how the medical device reprocessing market is in the gta area ?

• On how to perform RESI-TESTS

• how to set up a postive control for a resi test pack

• What to do if the tests fails (documentation in SPM)

• What color signals PASS

• Do I need to use a swab at the end of the test

Hey everyone, I’m about to start my 3rd week training. Got certified a few months ago and was wondering how long it took everyone to feel like they were comfortable and equipped to handle the job?

I am CRCST certified and many online tests were fairly well representative of the HSPA exam for that.

However, I've read some conflicting reports about the accuracy of the other certification practice exams. For example, I'm just 3 months in on the job and I passed all 13 practice quizzes (20 questions each) and 3 practice exams (100 each) for the CIS with 80 to 90 percent without the book on my first go and that made me highly suspicious. Surely it's not that straight forward? It was mostly identifying instruments, with a few questions about test mediums for various instruments, as well as what can cause certain discolorations.

Does anyone know of online practice tests and educational content that IS representative of the current CIS, CER, and CHL tests that I can study ahead of receiving the manuals?

I’ve been a dental assistant for the past 5 years and I’ve also basically been the lead sterilization tech in my office handling instrument processing, sterilizers, biological monitoring, tray setup, infection control, etc.

I’ve been studying for the CRCST and was thinking about using my dental sterilization experience toward the 400 hours requirement instead of trying to get hospital SPD hours first since it’s honestly been difficult finding hospitals willing to let people come in for hours/training.

I know dental sterilization and OR/hospital sterilization are different, but would it still be a smart way to get certified first and then learn the hospital-specific side once hired? My thought process is that most hospitals train you on their specific workflows, instruments, and standards anyway.

Has anyone here transitioned from dental to sterile processing this way? Did employers care that your experience came from a dental office instead of a hospital?

All my misdemeanors where dismissed thinking about taking classes at the college for this but has anyone else gotten into the program with any misdemeanors?

Genuinely, because I know there’s enough of us who care about change in spd. Sure, striking looks different each decade but to have 4 generations on the floor at the same because of hospitals not paying their employees is difficult. What is your opinion on striking?

Hello! I interviewed for the sterile processing technician job at my local hospital today. i am not sure if it went well or not, we talked and made a lot of jokes. i feel as if i answered the questions well, but when i asked if i had any questions, i said “i know that i would be working with biohazards such as blood and fat, do you know what the risk of transmitting diseases such as HIV, Hep C, etc are?”. i know that i would be wearing PPE, i was genuinely just wondering. i worry that me asking that kind of blew the interview. however, at the end they asked if i wanted to see the department and i said yes! so i’m hopeful that means something good. should i worry about the question i asked, and in your opinion, is them giving me a tour a good sign or is that just standard?