Sterilization Station: A Sterile Processing Empowerment Podcast
Welcome to "Sterile Processing Empowerment Podcast, the podcast dedicated to elevating the field of sterile processing and surgical services! In an industry where precision and care intersect, we believe that knowledge is power. Our mission is to empower, encourage, and motivate every professional engaged in the transformative world of healthcare.
Join us each week as we delve into enlightening discussions that shine a light on best practices, emerging innovations, and the critical role sterile processing plays in patient safety. Whether you're a seasoned expert or just starting your journey, our panels and expert guests will provide invaluable insights through engaging conversations and real-world stories.
From the nuances of instrument handling to the latest in sterilization techniques, we cover it all. Expect thought-provoking interviews, educational segments, and motivating content designed to inspire you to elevate your craft. Together, let’s foster a community that champions excellence in surgical services and celebrates the unsung heroes of healthcare.
Tune in to where expertise meets passion, and every episode empowers you to make a difference in the operating room and beyond.
Sterilization Station: A Sterile Processing Empowerment Podcast
Surgical Tech Spotlight: From Operating Table to Classroom with Hailee Ellison
Surgical technologists ensure every instrument is sterile and ready when surgeons need them, serving as vital team members in the operating room while also training future professionals in this specialized healthcare field.
• Discovery of surgical technology often happens unexpectedly, as with Haley who switched from nursing after experiencing her first OR rotation
• Developing a "surgical conscience" means maintaining sterility standards and patient safety even when no one is watching
• Successful surgical techs must master multitasking, anticipating surgeons' needs while monitoring multiple activities in the OR
• Collaboration between surgical techs and sterile processing departments creates crucial safety checks for patient protection
• Standardization through regular meetings between departments enhances efficiency and effectiveness in surgical settings
• Continuing education and professional development pathways are essential for career advancement in surgical technology
• The profession is moving toward licensure to standardize education and practice across all states
• Cleveland Clinic's collaborative approach serves as a model for interdepartmental teamwork in healthcare settings
• First exposure to the OR can be intimidating but provides valuable perspective on the importance of instrument preparation
"Healthcare needs people who care. Don't go into this because you want to make a million dollars. Go into this because you really care about other people and you want to make the world a better place, and you can do that by each surgery that you perform."
Behind every successful surgery is a team, and in that team there's someone ensuring that every instrument is where it needs to be, that it's sterile and it's ready to save a life. And today, on the sterilization station, we're joined by someone who's not only worked at the surgical table but now shapes the minds of the next generation of surgical technologists. Please welcome Haley Ellison, certified surgical technologist, mentor and advocate for excellence in the operating room. So welcome, haley, to the show. We're so glad to have you today.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me, Bill.
Speaker 1:This is really great. So I had a chance to network with Haley. As you all know, I love LinkedIn. It's my networking base, it's my pond. So I found Haley. It took me a couple messages and some interactions to finally connect, but once we started to connect, we both learned that we were so passionate about education, and so once I asked her for this opportunity, she was very excited. So I'm really glad to have you on here. So we'll just go through a few questions just to let everyone kind of get to know you and then and look forward to a great dialogue that I'm pretty confident will empower those who are listening today. And so so, Haley, if you could just take a few minutes and tell you know the listeners, what drew you to the field of surgical technology and was there a specific moment or influence in your life that sparked that interest?
Speaker 2:So it all started when I was younger. I knew I always wanted to be in healthcare, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. So throughout my high school career I took some college classes like anatomy and phys, and then, when I ended up getting into college, I got into a nursing program actually and I did a full semester and when I finally was in my clinical portion I got to be in the OR and that's when I finally found out what a surgical technologist was and I fell in love and I knew right then and there didn't want to do nursing and I actually switched my degree over and joined our surgical tech program at Lorain County Community College.
Speaker 1:And I couldn't be happier with my career choice. That's really great. That's really great. It's amazing how some people, you know, they kind of know initially what they want to do. You know whether sometimes you go to get an x-ray and then you got a broken arm and you're like, oh, I want to be an x-ray tech, or so it's really interesting to see how we get called to uh to our different uh, you know career paths and so could you?
Speaker 1:no, it's great, it's really great. So could you walk us through your journey from student to certified surgical technologist? Um, what was that? In the afterward, maybe you could talk about. What was that early transition like?
Speaker 2:So, as a student, I graduated from Lorain County Community College, so that is a two year program.
Speaker 2:It's actually around 18 months, but you have to take prereqs ahead of time.
Speaker 2:So I did my prereqs and then I would be taking my regular surgical tech classes while doing lab and once you pass your final checkoffs, you get assigned to a clinical site. So we had a lottery and the first place I went to was downtown UH, which is a very big hospital from my area, and I got to see my first case ever and it was with two different doctors the patient had tongue cancer actually and they was with two different doctors. The patient had tongue cancer actually and they were doing a free flap, so they were removing this patient's tongue, making a new tongue on their thigh, and I'm like a brand new baby scrub and I was like this is amazing. I was like this is where I need to be, you know, and just seeing like how everyone worked together, it was amazing. I just like fell more in love and grew more of a passion for what I was doing and I ended up graduating in 2019 with an associate's degree and I got a job at the Cleveland Clinic and that's where I started my career at.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, so that's amazing. So, as like a new student, like what are some things that you kind of you know what. What is what is a new student going to experience? You know, you kind of you know what. What is what is a new student going to experience, you know, when they're, when they're going into a new career like a lot of nerves.
Speaker 2:I was super nervous because you're so afraid to like do the wrong thing because at the end of the day, this is someone's you know mom, dad, brother, sister and you just don't want to mess up. And then you know if something goes wrong during a case, and feeling that tension and then like everyone just knows what to do and you're like I don't know what to do. You know that's all things you have to learn in time. And then applying everything you know in lab that you learned for, like sterile technique and having a surgical conscience and like using it in the real world and you're not working on a mannequin anymore, you know and just learning to take a deep breath and you know look up your cases before you go. So when the surgeon asks like oh, do you know what? You know we're taking out the gallbladder. What does this mean? Like what main arteries am I looking for? Things like that. Like so you have that common knowledge, like never to go into something blind.
Speaker 1:That's really good. Now, just in case someone's listening in there, they're like what did she say A surgical conscience? Can you tell us a little bit for someone who maybe doesn't know what that is? What is a surgical conscience, and why is that important in surgical technology?
Speaker 2:So a surgical conscience is something that you build throughout, like you know your school, your classes and things that you learn for, like your aseptic technique, like as far as like say I'm opening something and maybe I accidentally hit my back table, having a good surgical conscience is like, well, just because you know somebody didn't see me or my preceptor didn't see me, doesn't mean I'm not going to like say, oh, my table is contaminated. Like you have to admit your mistakes and have the honesty and act like whoever's on that table is, like your parent or your child, whoever it may be. So the surgical conscience is something that, no matter what, you're always going to do the best thing you can to provide the best patient care and outcomes and having that honesty and integrity.
Speaker 1:Okay. So basically it's saying like, when no one else is around, making sure that you're not cutting corners and that you're treating. Yeah, would you say that we do that so that every patient gets the same amount of opportunity and treatment for like a positive surgical outcome?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, 100%. You have to do that with every patient. You take care of every case. If you're unsure of something, just ask that surgeon that question beforehand, to get yourself ready and prepared, and talk to your preceptors or your clinical instructor, whatever that may be.
Speaker 1:That's really cool. No, I think that's pretty awesome. I know in sterile processing we try to teach the same thing, because you never really know and you know years ago and I actually saw David DeGrosse, who's like a famous educator in sterile processing. He posts like really good content and he posted a picture of some of some locks that someone had like sterilized and I'm like man that that is a reality, like people do, that People really sterilize locks so that if the lock is broken they can actually, you know, and that to me is a part of the conscience too, right, it's like yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's interesting. So just wanted to add that, just in case someone's listening and they're like what is she talking about?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think it also. Like it, 100 applies to sterile processing because, at the end of the day, like you, you guys are our first, you know line of like defense for, like you know, the patient getting a um infection. You know, like you're looking and making sure everything's sterile and clean, like those are going in the patient, like you guys are so important. So it's like you guys check it and then we check it too, so it's like just the double checking and looking for everything. You know it's so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think that's really good. Now, when you became a like, when you were doing your rotations into becoming a scrub tech, like what like? I guess maybe the question would be like comparing it to your expectations, like, did it, was it what you anticipated, or was it more, or was it less, or it was.
Speaker 2:It was honestly more because you're so used to, like I said, like working on these mannequins and lab and, like you know, there there's not like blood in the patient coding or whatever that may be so when I finally got, you don't have the smells and all the funky stuff that might be going on.
Speaker 2:You know every case is so different and it just really puts into perspective, like just how fragile life is and how important. You know, as a certified surgical technologist, like we are so important. You know health care is so much bigger than what people are, like oh, it's doctors, nurses, like there's so many people that play such a vital role in that person's care your experience of you know going through the program and then doing your rotation.
Speaker 1:And now I want to transition into a segment about you know being an advocator and an advocate. So I know you do a lot of teaching, mentorship, and I know with anyone that's teaching I would say, quote unquote, should be doing some development, professional development. I know I do that as a preceptor is always trying to make sure that I tell the students it's bigger than sterile processing. It's really like it's life development, sharing things that the textbook won't tell you or won't teach you. So what inspired you? So what was your transitional moment or what? What inspired you to step into the educational role at the community college, where you're, where you are now?
Speaker 2:What inspired would inspired me would be actually, I was working already about I think it was about a year, year and a half, maybe two into my job at the Cleveland Clinic and I had precepted a couple of people that weren't from our program in clinic and I had precepted a couple of people that weren't from our program and I kind of realized like they hadn't had the same opportunities that you know I had had and I had always stayed in contact with our director and we had talked, you know, when I had, you know, a couple of years of experience to touch base and you know, maybe see about getting a job and I was already precepting at my job at the clinic and I was, like you know, I really have this passion to teach and give the students the best, you know, advice and direction that I can give them and also I want to prepare the people for, you know, one day I might be on that table and you know, it might be my mom you're taking care of and I was like, if I can do that and help you know, advocate for something that I care about and also prepare these people like, why not do it?
Speaker 2:So that's why I had applied and I got the job and I've been there almost four years now and I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's, that's really great. There is a little bonus section I wanted to add here, but maybe, maybe we'll just talk about it real quick. Is let's just talk about the Cleveland Clinic, right? I mean I'm looking on social media, I'm seeing a lot of team activities, bonding moments, community events and I'm like this is a place to be. So could you just take a second and just tell me about your experience at the Cleveland Clinic and I just, I mean, I'm looking on social media and, like man, I need to move to Cleveland.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Cleveland Clinic is huge so we are like number one for her care. Like we have so many different facilities, so many specialists. They advocate for education so when you get a job there after year end they will actually like help you go back to school. They'll pay for it, they'll help pay for your tuition. They have like committees that you can be a part of and really be a part of making those essential decisions for your team. Management really cares about your thoughts and opinions and it goes all the way up to you know the executive level. They do lots of donations for charities and they have the most advanced equipment known to man, pretty much like they. Just they're amazing with what they can offer yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:I think I appreciate you sharing that because, like I said, I just I've always just took in a notice. Um, I'm really strong about team unity, oh yeah, and when, when I see one, you know, I like to call it out. I know there's a, there's a medical assistant, there's a medical assistants who are in the occupational medicine department at our job and and like I'm going to have an episode with them because they have such a strong like collaboration and just team unity and I'm like they're like bill, we don't know nothing about sterile processing. I said I said I just want the world to know your guys is just what you do, because this they're, they work so well together and it's it's very noticeable.
Speaker 2:so, yeah, the clinic is huge about like collaboration and it's like a big like one team, one mission. You know we're all together and we all come together to take care of that patient yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:No, I appreciate it. I really do appreciate it. So what, what? What are some of the biggest misconceptions students have about the surgical technology field?
Speaker 2:with you know, with your experience, I feel like a lot of them think the job is just going to be passing instruments and it's going to be an easy walk through the park kind of job. And it's not, you know. A lot of them like, oh well, if I don't do nursing, I can just do this Like it's you're just so important and there's so much more to what we do, as you know, healthcare providers, than just passing the instruments. Yeah, what do you think are some skills?
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. I thought you were done. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, you're fine.
Speaker 1:I was going to say what are some skills you think like a surgical technologist, like really has to have to be an efficient and a successful surgical technologist and a successful surgical technologist.
Speaker 2:I feel you really need to be able to multitask, because you might have multiple surgeons working at the same time, so you need to take care of them. You also have residents, fellows, med students that you need to watch out for and help. Then you have a circulator in the room that's going to be talking to you. Counts being able to identify anatomy when we're closing um a cavity, because every time you close the cavity you have to do a count, so you don't have a retained foreign object and just having like I call them like your, or ears like you need to be able to hear multiple conversations and also be able to listen to multiple conversations at once and anticipate what's going to happen next that's really good.
Speaker 1:That's really good. And how do you um? How do you? How do you, or your school, your team of educators there, how do you, how do you prepare students for the emotional and the mental side of working in the operating room?
Speaker 2:A lot of it. We give them a lot of like talks about. Not every preceptor is going to be your best friend. And same thing with surgeons. Not every surgeon is going to be your best friend. There are going to be times where you know the case might not be going well or they nick an artery or something along those lines and things do get tense. And we explained to them with the surgeons there's a line obviously they shouldn't cross, like when it comes to being mean or saying crude things.
Speaker 2:But if maybe things get a little tense, understand that if something goes wrong with that patient, they are the ones that have to go and talk to that family. And it's not a personal thing, it's they are trying to save someone's life. And with preceptors I always tell them, no matter what kind of preceptor is, if you had a great day with them, a bad day, they just didn't want to deal with you. I tell my students to take one good thing from that day, whether that be you liked how their table was set up or they taught you a new way to pass something, something. To not focus on that negativity, because you're not going to get along with everybody, but you should be able to learn something from everybody that you do work with that's really good.
Speaker 1:That's really good. I remember when I, when I was precepting for sterile processing, I had a lady, she, she spoke so much negativity a lady, she she spoke so much negativity into me and and I remember I was I was like after the first, after the first week, I was like I'm quitting, I can't do this.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's so true yeah, and then my, um, my wife she was, you know, we were dating at the time and she was like you're gonna let this person take away all the work that you did. And you, you know, I went back there with a different mindset and, um, I remember telling her, like to tell me, tell me that I can't make it every day, cause it makes me learn, like three instruments. And so, uh, yeah it's really, really cool.
Speaker 1:And I do have an episode on, like you know, uh, externship tips for sterile processing that you know can be transferred over to surgical technology. So I'll make sure I put that link in the show notes for this so that you can you can see that to to learn some things. But but yeah, that's really great. I really appreciate, really appreciating the insight that you're giving us today on surgical technology. This is great. So what? What's some advice you can give to students about navigating? Let me start over. What advice do you give students about navigating their careers beyond just the technical skills?
Speaker 2:like how to like advance, or what do you mean exactly?
Speaker 1:um, yeah, like so say, say, you're a scrub tech. Um, are there, are there any like guidance that you might give them on how they can be a successful scrub tech? Or giving them guidance on how to do things more efficiently in the role?
Speaker 2:I guess you would say Okay, I would say that to never like stop learning. Like no say, like a lap Coley no, lap Coley is the same. Like you think you've seen it all and then you work with a different surgeon and he uses something different. So, to you know, take your notes and always carry them with you. Like I have a little tiny notebook that's like this size that I have like my doctor's names, and like notes like fun facts for me to remember. So when I work with them for the first time, like five months, like I can always refer back to that, because there's no way for you to remember everything. Like I wish there was, but there isn't.
Speaker 2:Like taking notes is great and like asking questions and just be involved and don't let yourself get stagnant or feel like I'm just a tech, like you're not just a tech, you're vital. And continue your education. Get involved with your state assemblies, like you know. Go back to your college and see if there's anything they need help with. Like reach out to you know local schools, things, like that helps. And, you know, go back and get a bachelor's degree if you want.
Speaker 1:The sky's the limit. Yeah, that's really phenomenal. I'm glad you touched on that because there's so many programs that you know they need surgical techs to give back, to teach people how to you know, um, to gown up to do the gloves, to do the different.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'm rusty so I'm not, probably not saying the right way, but but there's so you know there's, like there's the glove method, when you're doing like a procedure where you don't need a gown and there's the gown. So, uh, okay, let's, let's just set it. Let's just set, let's just set it straight. What are the two methods called?
Speaker 2:So you have your open gloving, which is where you don't need to have the gown. That's the one that you're talking about, and then the other one would be sterile gloving, where you have your gown on and then you sterilely have your gloves put on.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Thank you, haley. Thank you. Haley for coming to the rescue Bill is over here struggling trying to remember what it's called, so she threw me out a lifeline on that one. Appreciate that. No, that's really great. I think getting involved is really huge and I've been, you know, talking a lot about that in some of my tips and tricks for students or those who are trying to get into externship. It's just getting involved with your local chapters. You know, giving back to the schools If you can't find a job in surgical technology.
Speaker 1:You know, just stay around the environment, because it helps you to retain the information and you can continue to learn instruments and continue to practice. So I think was really a pro tip there. Hopefully you, hopefully y'all got your notebooks out. She's dropping bombs today.
Speaker 2:Nuggets is like you know it's like like you're trying to catch and I think too like another big thing. Bell is like you need if there's something you don't like or you feel like you're not supported, like nothing's going to change if you don't advocate. You have to advocate for. You know what you believe in and what your career is, and if nothing, you have to try. You can't be upset if you didn't put forth the effort to try and make things better and get in contact with the right resources.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's actually really good. I know the hospital that I'm at. Where I was a hospital I was at, there was a union we used to have. I used to be a liaison, the OR and I was the STD person that went to all the rooms, made sure everything was going well and I worked very closely with service leads in the operating room. So there was a surgical tech and a nurse and we were building new trays, we were making sure if the doctor wanted to change an instrument. So you know, establishing these teams are really, really good in the relationship between sterile processing and the operating room. So I think that's really good too, like you were saying. So you made me think about that. You guys have teams like that at Cleveland Clinic.
Speaker 2:We do. Yeah, we have. You know, every hospital is a little bit different. Where I am at, we do have. We have a lead tech, and then we also have other techs that are in charge of specific services, and then we meet with our sterile processing team and go over, you know, things that need to change or updating preference cards, things like that. And like right now we are standardizing our, like orthopedic trays so that way we have one tray that will compliment all the surgeons together.
Speaker 1:That's really cool, that's awesome. Yeah, and that that's when you set up. When you set up those teams and you you not only set them up, but actually meet and have those discussions. It really will help to streamline efficiency in the department. So that's really great, yeah. Yeah really will help to streamline efficiency in the department.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so keeping that, that's really great Activity, everything yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's super good. How can the surgical tech profession better support diversity, growth and retention?
Speaker 2:I think the profession itself is, you know, one of the big things that have been sorry. I think the profession itself is needing to move into licensure, which is something that we've been continuously working towards, and naturally having a licensure is like the next step. You know we already have our certification and then licensure would be the natural next step to move to. And having a licensure just further promotes, you know, standardization across the board of you know what a surgical tech is being taught, and also it standardizes your patient care and outcomes that we provide.
Speaker 1:That's great. Maybe I just want to move into the future of surgical technology, hear your thoughts on the future of where it's heading and the evolving of the field, and so where do you see surgical technology field heading in the next five to 10 years?
Speaker 2:I personally feel like it's just going to continue to grow. I mean itself, like at Elsie, for instance, we have grown tremendously. Our past two cohorts they have had 100% pass rate, so that's phenomenal. And every year we get more and more and more students and they're interested and they're finally learning like what is a certified surgical technologist, because most people don't know what we are. You know. Same thing with SPD like nobody knows what they are until you know. You promote that and then our sterile processing has grown and I think if we continue to put forth, put forth this effort of you know wanting to get this licensure and the recognition that we rightfully deserve, that it's just just going to get better. You know, like counting, like having like the NBSTA like behind us or NBSTSA sorry, having that behind us and people switching to doing that because there are like several other options for credentialing, but the NBSTA like offers state recognition as well and it's just like the right step to go. That sounds really weird. We got to reword that, sorry.
Speaker 1:Go for it.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think how I want to word this.
Speaker 1:You can do it.
Speaker 2:I know I'm trying to think what I'm trying to say I'm it's like up, like uplifting like the certified surgical technologists, like by having like credentialing through the nbstsa, which provides the national recognition, which has like a rigorous standardization and sends like the benchmark for what the education and in-depth training that the sort of certified surgical technologists would need to have.
Speaker 1:I think that would be like the next step to would help that's really good, and something about someone that's, you know, like you're on the battlefield of surgical technology, right. So you know exactly what's needed. You know where the major issues are, you know you know what, what, what are, what's the industry trends, what you're facing. So that's really great that you can have that, you can share that insight because you've actually, you know, really lived that or been a part of that. So that's, that's great, that's super great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we got to keep fighting the good fight. You know, and get that recognition out there. And you know, remember that we matter. A lot of people like I'm just a tech, like you're not, like you got to not have that attitude. And you know, if you want change, like fight for it. And you know, show them why you matter. You know it's so important to just put yourself out there and connect, like that's why I'm so thankful we're doing this, because we both get to talk about, you know, my field, which a lot of people don't know about, and like your field as well, like it's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think it's. It's really good to have that collaboration and that partnership because you know you can't do anything without me and and we need you because what you do is vital and a lot of times what you do is really the next step up, right? I mean, a lot of sterile processing technicians decide to go to surgical tech school. I'm a big advocate for the students within the first week getting in the OR, watching cases, seeing procedures. I remember my first week as a student I watched a total knee. Now, I'll be honest with y'all You're listening. I'll be honest with you. They put me in a total knee. I went in the room. I had never been in surgery. I watched it.
Speaker 1:One time my, my stepdad, had a DVD on the gift of life, on the baby being born. I watched it and I was like, okay, it's pretty interesting. But I mean, they brought me in and they brought me close. I literally my head was spinning. I got queasy, I had. I stepped outside the room. I kind of pulled myself together. I was like no, you're stronger. You're stronger than this, bill, you're stronger than this.
Speaker 1:I came back in there and then I was like I got close and I was blown away. I was like wow, it's like carpentry on the body. You can smell the smell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a little barbaric.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so it's real barbaric. Yes, I was like they pulled out this big old mallet. It looked like something from the movie Thor. I was like what is? Going on up in here this person is not going to make it right. It was literally. They were like, literally going to town, this doctor was like like he was cutting down a tree. I was like, man, this is crazy, yeah, yeah. So it's really interesting to see what they actually can do in, uh, in surgery. It's amazing.
Speaker 2:So that's, I think that's amazing that you got to see that, because that gives you, like a perspective of like what we're doing too. You know, and when I first started I actually got to spend a week in SPD. That was like the first thing I got to do. So for me that was wonderful, because at that time I never really knew much about SPD.
Speaker 2:And I was like oh, so this is why this is done this way. You know, getting more of that insider like OK, now I can put two and two together and we actually at LC with our sterile processing department. We have our sterile processing students, like when we're doing checkoffs, just so they can kind of see, like how those are done too, you know, and it's great for them to be able to see both sides as well yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:No, the exposure on both sides is really well. I know our hospital is really small. So because we're, you know, a small hospital, um, our surgical techs actually, uh, will push the last case through decon so they get, you know, trained on how to, how to decontaminate, um and support. So. So that's, that's just another um, another bonus. And then I just want to add this comment real quick about just as we're talking about advocating to be in the or you know, and one reason why it's really important is I'll never forget this experience where I was watching him.
Speaker 1:Well, I believe I was watching the case because as a liaison, when it was slow, I usually would go in the ors and just kind of observe and and see what was going on and just, you know, watch, watch cases when it was slow and and I remember they had a k-wire rack and um, and so the doctor, you know the scrub tech, pulled it out of the rack and verified it. You know, with the I think there's like a, like a section in the rack where there's a ruler in the tray that they could verify it and he just said this is perfect, bill. See, this is why it's important. Someone was putting the like 0.045, you know k wires in the wrong the wrong spot and so.
Speaker 1:But you know that was perfect. Or like they use a, a, they were using a depue, um total joint, like tray, and it was missing one of these pieces. And then they had to describe like what, why that piece was so important. And that really gave me a better understanding. Like those tray systems are only going to function if they have all the pieces there. And so the SPD you might say I'm going to put an orange sticker on it that says, you know, missing the corkscrew or whatever. But like that, that one piece has a vital part of that procedure. So that was a big. I actually came down the next shift report, I grabbed that tray and I talked about it like to everybody, like that I experienced this experience. Some people rolled their eyes but I was like it was a real experience, it was a moment of impact and I wanted to share it.
Speaker 2:I think that's wonderful that you do that and like at you know the Cleveland Clinic, every day before I shipped, we have a meeting and we actually meet with our whole department, and then we also have someone from SPD come who talks about like concerns for the day, like things like you know if a train needs to be reprocessed because we have not enough or something was missing or any. You know crucial moments like that, Like we always collaborate every day, so everyone has the big picture and also so SPD is aware of what's going on. So I think that's wonderful that you guys do that as well and you should keep doing that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, thank you. Yeah, I really really appreciate it. Yeah, I mean, it's a, it's, it's vital to to have that communication and sometimes, um, I guess when you have a mindset of a leader, you always are thinking about when you experience something, you want to make sure that other people can get the germ kernel of that experience.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, you never want to gatekeep.
Speaker 1:Good or bad?
Speaker 2:whatever you might have witnessed, you want to make sure you set that next person up for success or give them that little golden nugget you know, just to make their day better or make something go smoother. It's vital.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really good. So how do you, how important do you think continuing education is as a as a scrub tech, and then um, and what formats or resources you know do you recommend, or communities do you recommend, to get your continuing educational units?
Speaker 2:Okay For continuing education in general. I think it's huge, I know, for certified, for surgical technology you can just have the certification. Or, you know, at LC we do offer the associate's degree, which I'm thankful for, because with an associate's degree we do offer the associate's degree, which I'm thankful for, because with an associate's degree it offered up more opportunities for myself so I could, you know, go into teaching or I could do a rep down the road and I actually went back and got a bachelor's degree. So that opened up a bigger area for things for me to do down the road. And, depending on you know where you live, like local colleges will offer different kinds of programs and you kind of have to see what works best for you and like you know, work-life balance kind of thing. Or like if the clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, will pay for you to go back to school as well and to keep your certification, you need to always get your CEs.
Speaker 2:I think it's what a two-year rotation now for us. So every two years you have to get X, y, z amount of credentials through the education and the clinic. Luckily they actually offer little in-services here and there that we have. So every in-service after I think it's after 30 minutes. It has to be longer than that.
Speaker 2:You get so many points, so you get them at our job, which is wonderful that the clinic actually offers those to us, because some people don't and then the AST will offer the credits as well. If you were to go to a oh my gosh, what is it called my brain's blinking Gosh, what is it called my brain's blinking? The AST will offer credits as well if you go to conferences, so you can go that way. Or they do have things online that you can pay for and then take quizzes and get your credits that way. And then they also give you a magazine every month that has quizzes as well that you can turn in and submit to. So there's a lot of different resources, honestly, to continue your education, which is great. You just got to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really phenomenal and I know a lot of people that listen to podcasts in this community are very familiar with Hank Balch and Justin Pullum from Beyond Clean. They do have a podcast that's associated with Beyond Clean, hosted by Melanie Perry, I believe her name is. It's called First Case and you can listen to those podcasts, which are really geared towards, you know, the surgical department scrub techs, nurses, stuff like that but they've got a lot of great content. You can go to their website, listen to their episodes and then you know, you can take a quick quiz and get a CEU. So, if you're on Apple Spotify, register for first case.
Speaker 1:If you got to commute, you know, start at the bottom, work your way up, and I always say implemented knowledge is power. So it's not just the knowledge is power, because it's not going to be, do you know good, if you don't apply it. So you know, at least fill your brain with some of the knowledge from these different places that Haley mentioned, as well as check out First Case Beyond Clean. They'll never do you wrong, they always do you good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's really great. Are there any projects or initiatives you're currently working on or excited to maybe get involved with where you are?
Speaker 2:I'm currently waiting right now. I had sent in something for the Cleveland Clinic about our ladder program, which is a professional growth, and I sent some ideas to them and they were actually currently in the process of revamping it. So I'm sitting on the bench right now waiting to hear back from them. So hopefully I hear some good news soon about you know different options that they're going to offer ways that we can advance further with the Cleveland Clinic. So fingers crossed on some good news for us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really great. I love that. I love organizations that have you know, an opportunity for you to grow and have a structured you know for you to participate in, so that's really great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it helps a lot too with like the retention. You know, the more opportunities an organization can offer somebody in their field, the more likely they are to stay with you. Because why would you ever leave? If I can keep growing like I don't want to ever leave the cleveland clinic, why would I?
Speaker 1:yeah, no, that's true, that's that's really cool that they're, that they do have, um, you know, growth growth opportunities there. Uh, you know for you. So that's, that's super, that's really good. So what can you? Can you talk about that ladder again? I want to make sure I fully understand. So is it like a growth structure or growth? Is that something the whole hospital has, or more geared toward just surgical services?
Speaker 2:so it's actually something that I believe don't quote me because I'm almost 100 positive though like the whole hospital has for different departments. So, depending on what your elite like, your, your role is say you're a PCNA or a nurse, they have the latter programs. Where, say, you participate in the community outreach or you go back to get a degree, things like that it opens up more opportunities for you in the clinic. It may be in pay raise or things like that.
Speaker 1:So it just varies, I think, depending on what you're doing, and it also opens up more like career pathways for you as well, which I love that idea, yeah, that's actually really cool. That's really cool. So I just want to take a quick second. I do want to thank Rick Schultz and his team over there at instrumentlearningcom. If you're looking for an excellent educational learning tool, whether it be for your sterile processing department, or if you're a scrub tech or you're looking for help with studying for certification exams, you need to get the World of Surgical Services Surgical Instruments book. It's a 498 page hardbook textbook that covers all you need to know about surgical instruments. You know from frequently asked questions testing and inspection, repair, sharpness testing and much more. So go to wwwinstrumentlearningcom and use the code BRBOOK that's BRBOOK to get 20% discount and to compliment the textbook. Check out the instrument coaching card. These are 165 color-coded flashcards with all the most commonly used surgical instruments. You can order those today by using the discount code BRCards or, better yet, use the code BRSET to order the book, the card bundle, and get the best deal. So Rick Schultz is aka known as the Instrument Whisperer. He's got some great, great, great videos on LinkedIn. He's just a fantastic person and he is one of our sponsoring partners for the sterilization station and then also this podcast is also brought to you by MedTech Sterile Processing College, based out here in the California East Bay, and you can definitely post the phone number and the email. But if you reach out to Maricel Nguyen and her team, it's a great opportunity for you to participate in the sterile processing program in the state of California. In the state of California we do know if you are in Ohio, in the Cleveland area, you're going to want to check out Haley and her team over there at where she's located at. So I always hear they're doing some great things there. So I just wanted to make sure I include that announcement just about those who have sponsored and if you're interested in subscribing for for um sterilization station, you can enter into a subscription to where you know if you're interested in supporting the podcast, basically um, and you can donate from one dollar to thirty dollars a month if you're interested, which the you know, those assets or those, those funds and resources go to help um, you know, with the video editing and other things like that. So if you're interested, we do have some people who have, you know, opted in to subscribe and support. So we appreciate all those who are, you know able to do that or interested in doing that.
Speaker 1:And so, before we close out, I do want to just ask a few questions to kind of engage the viewers. I do want to just ask a few questions to kind of engage the viewers. So, if you are watching this and you have an you know, an aspiring surgical technology story, you know, please record a quick video, you can. You can find me on Instagram, sterilization, underscore station 52,. You know, put hashtag sterilization station or hashtag bill Rochelle, or you're on LinkedIn, record a video. You know, attach me and Haley to that post so we can see it. We'd love to hear of any. You know stories that you've had, or maybe something that you got from this episode. If you're listening to this episode and you know something that you want to say, maybe Haley said something that really sparked your interest and made you think about something. You know, please create a post, whether it's a post or or a video. And then you know what's one tool you always triple checked on your back table. Maybe take it. You know, just trying to get some engagement out there, you know.
Speaker 2:so anything that has a lumen.
Speaker 1:Those lumens, right, anything that has a lumen. Uh, yes, absolutely their joints.
Speaker 2:I have something that I have to set inside of it, like sometimes the instrument might still be in there or there might be bone or like fraser tips you ever know what you might find in there. It's always an adventure, so I've always, just constantly checked those they.
Speaker 1:They cause me stress yeah, no, for sure, absolutely yeah, that's, that's, that is so true. Yeah, lumens is. You know, we're constantly in sterile processing. We're verifying, we're making sure you know we're doing. We're even doing a verification test. On the clean side, of course, we're utilizing this, actually this new system, where it it uh conceals the lumen so that when you're flushing it, you know it's completely covered. So it's a new product.
Speaker 1:that's out there, it's, it's. The team's still getting acclimated to it and I'm trying to break their habit of using air just because I don't like air on the clean side.
Speaker 2:I feel like you're just blowing if there's bio burden in there you're just blowing into the air Like don't blow it near me, that's what I say. Don't blow it near me, I need that.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we're definitely trying to make you know improvements and so, but this is great. I'm really glad to have you on the show today. I really appreciate you, you know, taking the time and I hope that you will come back to Sterilization Station, hope that you know we could do some more collaborations together and so you know from the. Well, let me say this before I transition is there anything that you would would like to share, maybe some, you know, some word of encouragement to a student, maybe someone who's on the on the fence. They're saying, like, maybe I'm in sterile processing, maybe I'm a pharmacy tech, maybe I'm graduating high school and I'm thinking about, maybe you know, going to endosurgical technology. Like, is there anything you could share with someone for some words of encouragement?
Speaker 2:For words of encouragement. I would say if you're on the fence about what you want to do and what kind of career path you want to do, I would highly suggest becoming a surgical technologist, because if you want to change the world, why not help a patient? Let me re-say what I'm saying Hold on, okay. I would recommend them to put their best foot forward. Lord, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1:You're good.
Speaker 2:Re-say what I'm trying to say. I would recommend for somebody that might be questioning if this is the right career path for them and maybe they had a bad day and they're like, why am I doing this? Or they had a surgeon yell at them that there was a reason why you started this in the first place and the reason why you took your classes and all your decisions led you to where you are now.
Speaker 2:all your decisions led you to where you are now and, being a certified surgical technologist, you can make such a difference in someone's life and you can provide possibly a life-changing. You know surgery for somebody and that healthcare needs people who care. You know, don't go into this because you want to make a million dollars. Go into this because you really care about other people and you want to make the world a better place, and you can do that by each surgery that you perform.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really good. I appreciate that. I know that's real experience talking there, ladies and gentlemen. So that's great, really appreciate you coming on the show, appreciate the experience, the, the knowledge and, most importantly, you're just your willingness to be selfless, right to, to be able to teach and to impart and to share.
Speaker 1:And you know, I, I know as preceptors, sometimes you get that one student that you know they're the one that's going to pull.
Speaker 1:They're like pulling it out of you like a vacuum, and initially you're kind of like you know, man, what's going on, but then you realize that person was sent to make you better right, you're learning how to, you know, really speak it in a way that can register. It's almost like that. I look at the X and the Y on the math chart, right, like that moment of impact is when that X, the X, is like that's the student and they're going through life. And then here comes Haley Ellison, right, and they're just like they're coming like this, and then they're like bam, right, at that moment you know and and and it could be even in like a negative, but their life is in a negative and they hit that that right positive influence you know from from you and your school and your team of educators. Maybe you're precepting and so you have such a, such a vital, vital role and I just really, you know, I appreciate your contribution to, to the, the industry.
Speaker 2:It's really commendable I appreciate that I wish with the math equation I actually I tell the students like the light bulb effect it's like when they finally you know they're struggling with something so bad and then all of a sudden it's like light bulb and it's the most rewarding like experience. For myself is like when they finally get it. You know, it's like all this hard work and everything that we put in and it's like you did it, you made it. You can put those gloves on now like, yay, it's so great, yeah that's phenomenal, that's really phenomenal.
Speaker 1:No, that's, that's great. The light bulb effect, that's yeah, I'm, I'm using that one for sure. This is great. So you know. So, from the front lines of the operating room to the front of the classroom, haley Ellison embodies what it means to serve, educate and inspire. Her dedication is helping ensure the future of surgical technology is in very capable hands. So if you're a student, a tech or just someone curious about what happens behind those OR doors, haley's story is reminding us today that this work saves lives and it starts with people like her. So you can connect with Haley, I know for sure, on LinkedIn. The link will be in the show notes and if you like today's episode, be sure to subscribe and scrubbing with us next time on sterilization station. So, hey, I really appreciate you coming. I learned a lot, I feel like I grew a lot, I learned a lot and you always have a place here at the sterilization station and we really appreciate you coming on the show today.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me, Bill All right, thank you. Thanks.
