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
Experience Over Education: Leading Without a Degree in SPD
Cliff Russell, operations leader with 27 years of experience, shares insights on turning chaos into clarity and redefining leadership qualifications beyond traditional credentials. His journey demonstrates how experience, process implementation, and continuous improvement create exceptional results despite conventional hiring barriers.
• Building momentum after successful fiscal years by balancing reflection and forward planning
• Creating value for customers through data-driven service tailored to specific needs
• Navigating career obstacles without formal degrees through continuous self-improvement
• Addressing hiring biases that filter out qualified candidates based solely on credentials
• Transforming rejection into opportunity for growth rather than adopting victim mentality
• Implementing detailed processes to ensure competency and accountability in teams
• Treating employees as valuable assets by creating opportunities for growth
• Improving interdepartmental relationships through cross-training and mutual understanding
• Using asset management principles to reduce damage and streamline operations
• Focusing on patient safety by addressing biofilm formation and proper instrument handling
Email Cliff at cliff_russell@steris.com for assistance with making patients safer through improved processes and training.
What if the most qualified person in the room doesn't have a degree? And what if leadership isn't about credentials, but about clarity, consistency and grit? Well, today we're joined by Cliff Russell, an operations leader with over 27 years of experience, a track record of turning chaos into clarity, and a voice that challenges conventional thinking. In this episode, Cliff shares how he's building on a strong fiscal year, why processes are the unsung heroes of accountability, and how he's navigated a career where experience didn't always get the recognition that it deserved. This is an episode about doing the work, earning respect and redefining what qualifies someone to lead. So let's get into it. So we want to welcome back to the studio Cliff. Cliff's becoming a regular here at Sterilization Station, which Bill Rochelle loves, and so, Cliff, I'm glad you're able to come back here for this Very, very, very great conversation we're about to have today.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me Appreciate it. It's always great to sit down and have a conversation with you, Bill. Thanks.
Speaker 1:I'm really glad glad you're here again and we're going to just jump right into. We've got some great questions that I feel are going to really empower the listeners, and that's what this sterilization station and empowerment podcast for still processing is all about. So in segment one, we're going to talk about building momentum after a big year. So you just wrapped up the fiscal year, so what's your mindset right now? Are reflective or already locked in on what's next?
Speaker 2:Well, we have probably maybe about 10 seconds of reflection and then it's on. You know it's. You know the new fiscal year is here, so we're ready to go. But but no, it's always good to reflect, to look over your wins. That builds your confidence. Hey, we did this right, we did this right, and then you can look at how we can do things better, moving forward.
Speaker 2:The great thing about this job is every customer is a little bit different, but you can build on each experience Like, hey, this worked for this customer, I wonder if it might work here right.
Speaker 2:So, bringing those, you know, problem-solving skills to the table, I love the industry just because of that.
Speaker 2:But definitely, you know, always looking forward because you want to. You know, always trying to stay ahead of that curve, especially being in sales and being a vendor, you know we definitely want to build our business and increase our business, but at the same time, what's unique about you know, Starris, is that there's always a lot of talk, and it's the first talk that happens is how can we bring value, how can we bring something that our customer really needs and wants, so that not only will they use us now, but they'll continue to use us? So, yeah, I love that thought process and you know you don't see it a lot with some of the bigger companies, but I really feel that at least you know in our division that's the first forethought is, yeah, we want to build a business, that's our job, but how can we do that in a manner that's going to bring a lot of value, right? Because then you're going to keep us around, we're not just going to be just some other vendor, right?
Speaker 1:No, it's actually really good Within your role. You know, sometimes you are able to acquire new accounts and you get those new accounts. You know you're gearing up, you know, to create an action plan to attack that new account or to get some leverage. And so what are some non-negotiables in your planning process when you're onboarding new clients?
Speaker 2:Well, and this is something we get pushback on sometimes because a lot of the customers aren't used to it, because, I mean, a lot of people might walk in your door and say, hey, I'll save you 20%, right, but 20% off, what If you don't know what you're spending, if you don't know what you have? So one of the biggest non-negotiable things that we have to ask for is data, and we're not talking about how much you spend with so-and-so. We're talking about, you know a lot of times I talk about, you know, service in the fleet of trays. So how much service are you currently getting? Is that enough to cover your trays? Is that based on usage? So that data is what really helps us hone in and tailor the service program to each account, because everybody's different, everybody. You know you might go to one place that they're really heavy in, ortho and spine Other places heavy in something else. So you've got to tailor that based on the usage, of course, because that's what our governing bodies are asking for.
Speaker 2:How do you base this on usage and how do you sustain it? And then, how do you wrap education around it right? So those are the three questions that we are told by our customers, that the surveyors are asking, and so that's where we're trying to bring that value, and so we try to dial it in as close as possible to make it as accurate as possible, because with any type of analysis, good information in is going to be good information out, right, but if you put trash in, you're going to get trash out. So we try to just that's a non-negotiable is some of the data that we have to have to tell you that, hey, this is where you're at, this is where you're talking about wanting to be, and how do we get there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think that's really good. This episode is called Beyond the Degree of Russell on Strategy, grit and the power of process. So you're talking about, like the credentials versus experience, the hiring biases, career resilience, and so you've got nearly three decades of experience, yet you said not having a traditional four-year degree can be a major obstacle. Can you take us into that experience a bit more?
Speaker 2:Well, just, you know, a lot of times now especially you know, going through recruiters and things like that a lot of it is set up that when you do the little questionnaires, if certain boxes aren't checked off, you're automatically like kicked out of the queue, so to speak. Right, so it's not even a matter of like, oh, somebody, somebody, it's a personal preference. It's a lot of times it comes through HR and how they set up the job description and all that good stuff. But but again, you know, um, do think that they need to be looked at. I think it should be cause.
Speaker 2:First of all, let me say that I'm back going to college, getting some kind of education. My education came from two years of traditional college. Then I went to two years of scrub tech school. So I have four years, but not four years traditional, and I don't have a bachelor's. Now two out of my three daughters they're in college now. Actually, one just graduated with her four-year degree and get ready to go to graduate school. So I 100% back it and think that it's important. I don't want anybody to think that it's not important, but when it comes to hiring, something that that I would recommend to companies would would maybe look at it like a and or or type situation, because I mean, I, I've applied for jobs that that that you know a couple of them. I felt like I was overqualified for and uh, and didn't get them, just because of that reason. Um, which, which I get, that's the you know when. When business set those things in place, they're for a reason, and I get that, and I do think they need to be looked at and maybe tweaked and changed.
Speaker 2:However, let's talk on the empowering side. Are we going to sit here and be the victim and go, oh, they should change the rule, right? Or can we grab our bootstraps and go? What do I need to do to put myself in a better position? Can we grab our bootstraps and go? What do I need to do to put myself in a better position For myself? You know my example.
Speaker 2:I mean, when I got out of school, I thought I'd be scrubbing the rest of my life right, but life takes turns and I ended up coming to the sales side. So my plan is I'm going to go and because, like I said, I have two years of traditional college, so I'm going to look at what it's going to take to finish that out. So I can add that to my resume. Because, one, it would be a proud moment for me. But two, at the same time, I'm not going to sit back and wait for the rules to change because I may not like that particular rule. You don't want to take the victim mentality. Does it need to be addressed? Absolutely. Do we need to let it slide? No, but at the same time, it's not going to change overnight, so let's better ourselves in the process. That's kind of my philosophy on it. But I do think that some companies are missing out on some really good, talented people because of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think that's really good, and you went into the next question and answered it, which was how do you respond internally when you're overlooked, even when you're the most qualified person in the room? And so I think you really, it stings.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, I've been there, You've been there. How do I empower myself, um, to, to make the next steps? And so I think, when you answered the, the way you answered, it was really really good, because it's all about empowerment and it's all. It's all about. Maybe this, that maybe this was a depth gauge, so let me know where I'm at, but I know that I can still get there.
Speaker 2:And so exactly some of those, you know, things like that happen. It does let you kind of self-evaluate and say, hey, ok, what do I need to work on? But you know the last thing anybody, you don't want to turn that because it's a rejection. You don't want to turn that into excuses oh, I didn't get it because of this. You know, because you know I feel that we have so much opportunity. You know here in America, in our lives, that you can. You know you can turn anything that's a negative into a positive right.
Speaker 2:And so, instead of sitting back and going, oh, they should change the rules, which they should, maybe right, but at the same time, that's not helping you right now. So what can we do to move forward and better ourselves? On the ego side of that, when you do that and you you know your four-year degree and finish it, then you can be like, hey, I did it, you can't deal with me now. Right, I earned it. So again, I like having that move forward mentality that, hey, some of this is due to the fact that I don't have it, so what can I do to get it right?
Speaker 1:Right, so right, and I think that's really good. And it kind of you're kind of touching on, you know. The next question, which would be what advice would you give other experienced professionals who feel, you know, kind of boxed out by the degree requirements? But I think what you're saying is that there's, there's things you can do to start to make those steps right. You did those steps right. You got to put in the work.
Speaker 2:You know you got to put in the work. I work with with you know everything from middle school up to high school level kids. I coach football and different sports and and I had a kid come up to me and you know, some of the high school kids are thinking about what they're going to do with their life, Right? And one came up to me and was like, hey, um, you know what about being a consultant? I was like, what are you going to consult on? I was like, oh, like you don't even know anything yet. You're just coming out of high school. You gotta, you gotta build that experience. You gotta, you gotta spend time in a field before you would call yourself an expert. So, in saying that, do the work. It's the journey, you know and I hate to sound cliche, but it's the journey. If you don't do, spend that time and learn it, just like you spent time in the department, right, that's how you learn how to be a good leader because whatever people around you did well or didn't do well, you learned from it, Right.
Speaker 2:So you know. My best recommendation is is is continue to work and continue to learn and know your stuff. Know it, Don't just guess at it and this, that and other. Keep up with it, Because when you can, you know. It's nothing better than knowing what the guidelines are before they're taught to you. Right, Right, right, you know. So, again, that's what I would recommend is do the work you know. Don't look at it as work. Look at it as that journey that, hey, I'm trying to get here and you may want to be hospital administration, but if you spend these years here and learning how the inner workings of the hospital works, that's going to make you a much better C-suite person when you get there, right. So, again, that's my kind of mentality and how I think, but that's what I would recommend to anybody.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's really good, that's really great. And then transitioning into grit and process and protocol and what.
Speaker 2:What are most teams get wrong when it comes to implementing and maintaining. You know details. Like I said, you know we, we go through a very painful process of getting inventories from our customers and cross-referencing it with with what we already have or what's what's been seen, and, and we and we go through a lengthy process to make sure that we get their inventories correct so that we can give them correct pricing, correct cadence of service, that type of stuff. So some of the details, because a lot of the times that is a labor of love. A lot of times the hospital doesn't even know what they have and they pull out and they got 2,000 trays but they're averaging six or seven cases a day. Well, what are you using all those trays for? So you know, and I know Steris has got a really good.
Speaker 2:Amy Williams does a really good presentation on right-sizing your inventory and right-sizing your inventory. It's a great presentation and it really helps open people's eyes of like, hey, you know why does Dr So-and-so have five trays but he only does two surgeries a year here? Now, you know, sometimes it might have been. Oh, he used to be here every day and he's just scaled back or he retired or whatever it might be, but you know, looking at their inventory on a regular basis, like that, it really helps not only with with knowing what they have, but, like I said before, when those surveyors come in, they ask what is your proactive maintenance? How do you sustain it? And if you've got stuff that haven't, hasn't been seen because it's not there and it's on your list and it hasn't been serviced since 2017, they're going to ask questions about that, right? So again, that's the sustainability and that's what we preach and walk every day in my job.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, that's really great.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Hope I'm bringing value and stuff that helps and leaders that are watching this. You know, listen to your vendors when they're coming to you with this, with valuable information, because it might take a sit down meeting of 20 minutes or so but, man, you're going to get so much more insight as well as helping you reduce damage, reduce complaints. You know that type of stuff. So you know, when we come in and want to go over these inventories, it's not just because we want to hear ourselves talk, it's because we're really trying to bring some value.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really good. I know that you talk about competency being key to leadership, so how do you address or develop competency within your teams?
Speaker 2:Well, one, your policies and your processes, I mean leaders. Think about it. When's the last time you sat down and went through each step, from the time the case ends or breakdown, or whenever SPD enters the picture at your facility? What is each step? What is expected? Just like I was telling somebody the other day, just like in SPD, we know our expectations for packing a case cart and how it should be packed and what the OR is expecting, right when they're going to identify that. Well, the same thing. What's the expectations for it coming back? Well, the same thing. What's the expectations for it coming back?
Speaker 2:If, right now, the expectations are everything comes back in a big metal basin piled on top of each other, that might be an area we can look at for improvement, because that's where a lot of damage comes from. Right, and we can look at those touch points and really identify and say, hey, this might be where your damage is coming from, and it could be from the time it's broken down and thrown into a tray to go back to decon, or it could be the storage part. I mean bipolar forceps. We go through all the time. People, their bipolars are skyrocketing because they're getting a lot of repairs. The first thing I do is ask is how do you store them? Because if they're thrown in a bin with all the other bipolars and all the other metal ones and with metal forceps, well that might be where your damage is coming from, right? So again, just working with our customers and trying to pinpoint where some of that problem is.
Speaker 2:We're not here just to sharpen things, we're here to help you. You know, manage your assets and I know that's a big word, especially for me, right, Asset management. But you know, it's really just that. And hospitals are going 90 miles an hour, 24 hours a day, so sometimes that can get away from them. But once a year, get with me, call me up, we'll do it. I've done it with other hospitals where we go through. Now I can't write the process for you the hospital, your committee has to write that policy, right but I can come in and help teach it and we can go through each step and then sign those people off. Now you've got a baseline as a leader on where you're at.
Speaker 2:Everybody's been trained, everybody knows what's expected. So then when things don't happen, two things you've got accountability. So you can either go hey, we need to retrain, or it needs to be a performance review issue or hey, that person hasn't been trained. So you'll see more of a streamline and it falls right in line with the lean processes which I'm sure you're aware of trying to streamline as much as possible, because nobody likes to be in decon all gowned up and sweating to death, and then you've got to treat each case cart differently because it's packed differently, sprayed differently, separated differently.
Speaker 2:It's just extra time and extra work that we can shave off that. I know everybody in decon would really love to shave off time. I've worked in decon so I understand that it's not good. But at the same time it's not just that, it's protecting those instruments, making sure biofilm's not forming. Biofilm can form within minutes. So if we're not wiping and flushing and spraying in the OR soaking in sterile water and then pre-treating that beforehand, sterile processing is fighting an uphill battle. So it's really a team approach. Sorry, I didn't mean to go down the rabbit hole there, but there's a lot of moving parts in there, you know.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's really good. What's the first thing you do when you walk into a department that's clearly just winging it, like, what does Cliff do? You walk in there and you say, oh my goodness, what's going on here?
Speaker 2:Well, you know things. You know. At times I thought things were hey, why in the world? But then there's some explanation. So what I usually do is I try to sit down with the leadership and the lead techs and get their feedback. I'm not, who am I to come in and tell you what's wrong with your department, right? So hey, let's start. I can tell you where you could move to best practices, but that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. You're just not doing it at best practice. I mean right now. I mean a wet towel on your instruments is still acceptable, right? It's just not best practice.
Speaker 2:So again, I don't go in with a right or wrong type mentality. So again, I don't go in with a right or wrong type mentality. It's more of less, less instead of. You know, I forget where I got this, but instead of throwing spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks, let's sit down and have a conversation and see what keeps you up at night and what complaints you're getting and where your system bottlenecks, right? So then we got places to focus and then I can make recommendations from there, because I want to earn the right to come in and and and help and tell you where we can make improvements.
Speaker 2:When I first walked in the door, I haven't earned that right yet. So it's about sitting down with you and going hey, mr and Ms Customer, what keeps you up at night? Why am I here? What can I help you with immediately? That will take some of that stress, take some of that anxiety away. Right, because you know, as an SPD leader man, you get phone calls and people running in your office and emails and you're like, oh my God, right, so again learning how to eat the elephant, you know, one bite at a time instead of trying to force feed it all at once, right?
Speaker 1:And I think that's what's really interesting about today's episode is we're really diving into discussing and reflection about the strategy, about your fiscal year and how to prepare. You're talking about the opportunity to want to advance, and then you were mentioning about asset management and it made me think about the second segment we spoke about, about wanting to improve yourself, and so and it's interesting because what comes to my mind is that asset is something that's really valuable, right? So we think about our instruments, we think about the equipment that we have, or you get new equipment and you want to make sure you take care of it. You're trying to manage that asset and what's so important is how the employees are one of the greatest assets that an organization has, and if we're not preparing or creating opportunities for them to feel valued, or creating opportunities for them to grow, or creating opportunities for them to advance, and understanding, like, how do we create that? And that's what kind of made me want to go back because of the asset management, and I was just thinking about how the employees are such a great asset in the department and even our vendors, right?
Speaker 1:I mean, I was speaking to a manager today and and you know she was asking me about my experience working at Steris. I was. I was telling her I still I'm still communicating with Steris. Steris was here, kevin was at the job drinking coffee and, and you know we were addressing a scope that needed to go out for repair and creating opportunities. For you know, steris, I just think it's really important that the employees are one of the greatest assets in the department and the vendors, like yourself, right, I mean, sometimes you're calling asking me if I'm in today because you weren't around, and so I just wanted to add that to this conversation, that just appreciating the employees and sometimes appreciation comes by are you willing to create growth in the department?
Speaker 1:Are you willing to, you know, sit down with them in those one-on-ones like the managers, and finding out, like it's not just do you have any vacations coming up or did you put in all your vacation requests, but it's like asking the employees like, where do you see yourself in a year? Is there anything I can do here to cause you to grow? Some people want to be educators. Okay, well, let's in a staff meeting. You know we're having this issue where maybe they're not processing the robotic arms a certain way. Why don't you, you know, get the IFU and cover that as a topic. So I think it's important to create opportunities for growth. And then some hospitals have educational fund or educational programs that if you know your employee wants to get a degree like you could begin to facilitate that conversation. Get them in contact with the union.
Speaker 2:Well, going to your episodes on mentorship, that's a great way to be a mentor is to say, because some people in SPD they might've gotten the job because something was open at the time and they've been doing it a couple of years they may not even know what their path is or what they want their path to be. So you just ask it on that question, they're like what I don't know, what do I want to be doing in a year? Right? And then. And then that awareness is there and then they're like okay, well, what's my options? What can I be doing in a year?
Speaker 2:So it really I think that that is a great way to mentor someone, but getting them to ask theirself the question what do I want to be doing in a year? And then, if I, if I figure that out, well, how do I get there? Right? So I think you know, I think you know, I think that's a great question to ask your staff members is is that, what do you? I mean, do you want to even be here in a year? What's your, what do you want to do? And then you can help them get there, cause I mean, as a leader, I love, I love keeping employees I want to work with the same people because when people leave one, you, you not only got to train someone new, but you got to learn how to work with someone new, and I love keeping the same team because you tend to mesh together. But, you know, I don't want someone to stay. If they truly have other aspirations and want to be somewhere else, right, I want the best for them. But at the same time, that's why, when you're, you know, you can ask those questions and stuff as they're developing through their career, right, so you can not only plan for that, but you can help them get where they want to go, you know. So I think that's a great way to mentor people as well. Yeah, I think that's really good.
Speaker 1:Are there any encouragement that you might have for anyone out there, Cliff, regarding maybe some of the topics we discussed today? Yeah, a couple of things.
Speaker 2:One, use your resources. I know not everywhere, but some of these bigger hospitals and these bigger systems, you know, sometimes if you go back to school to get that degree there's, you know they reimburse you, they pay for some of it. You know everywhere's different but you could always check with HR because I know you know going back to school you're like, oh, the first thing I think of is how, you know, I got to. That's one more thing I got to budget in. Right, I've got four women in my household so I have to budget well there. But again, but looking at your resources, and sometimes you might be able to get a scope, you might be able to get some reimbursement with the hospital, especially if you're going and doing something that's related to your you know it's going to be related to your degree and your career, what you're doing now, and it opens up that path, like you were talking about earlier, just opens up the path to that. And then the other thing one of the most successful things I've seen leaders do in sterile processing because and, bill, you've known, I'm sure you've experienced it for years it's the OR and SPD are butting heads and oh, they do this or they do that, or they're supposed to do this or they're. We got to get out of that mentality and I do see more and more of us getting out of that mentality and becoming more of a team approach. But leaders, one thing that if you have that going on between you and the OR, look at cross-training. And I don't mean that in a literal sense, but have you know and I know sometimes people laugh at me because they go do you know how I can work that into my schedule? There's no way that'll happen. But if there's any way you can work it into where a couple of SPD folks go up and watch a surgery and watch what they do and how they're handled, and because I know for a fact, like most people think there's one or two trays per procedure. But then you've got these spine cases where you've got 20 consignment sets right. Well, not everything may not make it back into those sets right. So you know seeing the pains of what goes on up there and then having a scrub tech or two every now and again come down and work in decon or work in a prep and pack, so that they get to see what SPD goes through as well.
Speaker 2:I mean, decon is a great place. I mean the first thing I, one of the first things I saw in Decon and I make this joke all the time when I'm talking to departments but I was the ortho scrub tech that everybody hated in SPD because I was there's always one, right, I was the guy that, oh, I don't have time to do that, the SPD can do that, right. Well, then I got to work in SPD and one of the first things I got was formolar reamers that had dried cement on them. Well, that right there taught me why I should wipe it off.
Speaker 2:You know, while I have it in the OR, when it's wet and not attached and not set, because by the time SPD gets it, you've got to literally jackhammer something to get it off of there, right, and that's where damage comes from. That's where you know wear and tear, more wear and tear, comes from. So those types of things you know. You know getting to feel your teammates pain. You know that you don't normally get to experience during the day, because some scrub techs have never dealt with decon. Well, that's the first place. I'd put them right there, right, you know so they can feel it For sure.
Speaker 1:And I think, cliff, you gave us some really good information on what it means to lead with experience, to build with purpose and to refuse to let the paper trail, you know, define the person. So if you're someone who's ever felt underestimated, overlooked or under-credentialed, you know Cliff's story should be a reminder that real leadership comes from doing the hard things consistently and making sure others can do the same. If this episode resonated, take a second to share it with someone climbing the same hill and remember that degrees can help you open doors, but remember that your effort, your efficiency, it will always help you in the long run as well. So, once again, we just want to thank Cliff for coming in. He's always there. When Bill says, hey, I got this episode, I want to launch, I want to work on it, he's just like hey, send me the link, let's do it.
Speaker 2:I appreciate you having me on, but I really do. I love education, especially in this arena. So, and anybody out there that would like our help, email me. Call me Cliff underscore, russell at stairscomcom. But yeah, reach out, because we love to come in and make patients safer, and you know that's not just cliche. So thank you again, bill, for having me on. It's always great to talk to you. I wish I got to see you more, but hopefully that you know I'll see you next time I'm up in NorCal.
Speaker 1:Sounds good, Cliff. Thank you very much. Appreciate y'all. Appreciate y'all. Thanks for then. Thanks everyone.
