Ideas That Work: Bringing Education to Sterile Processing Techs’ Fingertips

Practical pearls from your colleagues.

When Tabitha Hoffman, MSN, RN, RNC-OB, NPD-BC, recently spoke with the five-person central sterile processing (CSP) staff at WellSpan Health Apple Hill Surgical Center (AHSC) in York, Pa., about the past year and the improvements that impacted their day-to-day, one topic was consistent: ease of access to education and resources.

A simple-to-use electronic platform dubbed the CSP Education Portal provides instant access to education for AHSC’s CSP staff. “Staff have access to CEs offered through accredited providers, webinars and even quick-click access to sites they use every day, such as those for ease of access to Instructions for Use, cleaning protocols, service manuals and safety data sheets; numerous equipment vendors’ education and training sites; and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation,” says Ms. Hoffman. “The portal has made it easier for our CSP team members to continue expanding and reinforcing their knowledge as well as studying for certifications.”

Ms. Hoffman — until recently AHSC’s clinical education specialist and now nursing professional development lead for all WellSpan ambulatory surgical facilities — worked alongside CSP Manager Melissa “Missy” Zarfos, CRCST, CIS, to develop the portal. “Missy approached me with the request to make a site specific for her team that can allow them to have easy access to education and sites they use daily,” says Ms. Hoffman. “She requested it to be somewhat similar to the education site I made for our nursing/clinical staff.”

Through WellSpan, the pair utilized the Microsoft SharePoint application to create the portal. “In order to make her vision come alive, Missy and I met a few times to discuss what materials, resources and links she would want on her department’s site,” says Ms. Hoffman. “From there, I was able to create an additional page on our entity’s SharePoint site that would be specific to the CSP team. Once I got the ‘face’ of the site live, I showed her how she could upload and link resources, sites and anything in between. This gave her the ability to run the site and update it whenever she would like.”

Ms. Zarfos created and maintains the comprehensive site, with Ms. Hoffman serving as de facto support. AHSC requires its CSP techs to earn Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) or Certified Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician (CSPDT) certification within 18 months of employment. Ms. Hoffman says the portal has also encouraged AHSC’s techs to earn additional but optional certifications such as Certified Flexible Endoscope Repressor (CFER), Certified Endoscope Repressor (CER) and Certified Instrument Specialist (CIS). OSM