For some sterile processing departments, what they do on a daily basis
simply is regarded as a job, a set of tasks to service the operating room
directly, and the patients indirectly. For others, sterile processing also
represents a calling and a viable career path. But Toms River, NJ-based
Community Medical Center also regards what they do as a crusade for how
sterile processing and distribution departments and professionals should
act, operate and be valued.
Hospitals are a veritable treasure trove of advanced and ever-evolving
technologies, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the patient
monitoring segment. Those cumbersome, tethered and isolated "spot-check"
monitoring units are being replaced by smaller, flexible and mobile
state-of-the-art devices that can integrate more easily with hospital
information systems and remain perched near the patient.
Today,
ICPs’ work touches virtually every aspect of the healthcare facility and
patient care; yet their time and efforts are fragmented, scattered in
different directions, with healthcare-acquired infections not always
receiving priority, presenting an obstacle to performing their work as they
would like to and need to. But at least salaries are inching up.
From washers, decontaminators, sterilizers and other relevant technology
to the accessories needed to reprocess medical/surgical devices, sterile
processing professionals need information to make optimal choices. Healthcare Purchasing News highlights and spotlights what’s available.
Ask supply chain management to grade its own customer service performance to
the critical care and surgical service areas and it might acknowledge
problems but justify the kinks to the frenetic pace and unpredictability of
the cardiac/coronary and intensive care units as well as the surgical
suites. But maybe it’s just a communications problem.