JUNE 2021LIFE SCIENCES REVIEW8 started as a Central Supply/Sterile Processing Technician in 1979 at one of only two hospitals in our city. The requirements of the position, at that time, were to send a few supplies to the OR; not nearly the volume of supplies we send today. We had a bedpan/urinal washer.In our hospital, we had an in-house linen department. One of our primary responsibilities was to make linen packs and sterilize them, including surgical linen and physician gowns. We rolled the linen, checked for holes, and then assembled basic packs, specialty packs, and drapes. Surgery washed and assembled all of the instrument sets leaving our department the task of wrapping (linen wrap) and sterilizing them. All of our medical equipment (I.V. Pumps) had to be picked up and brought to the SPD department for cleaning and storage. We made daily rounds and took note of the inventory, manually on paper, on each nursing unit. In the early 80s SPD Technicians began to assume a more active role in instrument assembly. Our hospital started a heart program and the SPD department was going to be responsible for processing instruments for these procedures.In 1981 I was the first SPD Technician to become certified in Joplin, Missouri. I took an accelerated course (two weeks) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1983, I assumed a supervisory role in the SPD department at another local hospital. The ETO (Ethylene Oxide) sterilizer was vented out into the department. I convinced the administration that it was not acceptable. There are and were numerous requirements for ETO sterilization that no one understood back then. I explained that ETO was carcinogenic. There was not a proper washer. I held firm about not cleaning the instruments in SPD unless they purchased one, which they did. By this time we had stopped using linen to wrap and had stopped processing linen packs. Suppliers had introduced disposable wrap and more innovative supplies. The primary responsibility for SPD was processing instruments and durable medical equipment. The SPD/CS area had split into separate departments; we were no longer cross-trained in both departments. ETO was eliminated and in 1994 we purchased the first Hydrogen Peroxide sterilizer. This was an exciting time.My Director found great value in education and created an educator position. The educator trained all new employees for SPD/CS. She created our orientation curriculum, conducted all educational events, and was instrumental in the development of our electronic log for sterilization which replaced paper logs. It is a known fact that training has become key in our industry. A poorly trained technician can have an adverse effect on patient outcomes. Five years ago the departments split and SPD was reassigned to the Operating Room under the Director of Perioperative Services. Following is a list of some of the changes over the past 20 years. Electronic Sterilization Log: An IT Research and Development representative and I created the program. We were able to place features in the log that tracked biological testing and created mandatory fields to prevent human error. We were able to create inventory sheets, add photos, generate reports for our accreditation agency, and maintain electronic archives. We continue to use this program today but will move to ISTERILE PROCESSING PROFESSIONAL: 30 YEARS OF CHANGESBy Jackie Mallatt, CRCST, Sterile Processing Supervisor, Perioperative Services, Freeman Health SystemIN MY OPINION
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