You finished the coursework—now learn how your work protects every patient

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Congratulations
• 0:55 Who You’ll Meet on Day One
• 2:37 What to Expect: Sights and Sounds
• 3:17 Where the Work Happens: Key Zones
• 4:00 When Learning Starts and Punctuality
• 4:35 Why SPD Is Patient Safety’s Heartbeat
• 5:53 How to Succeed on Your First Day

Transcript

Welcome and Congratulations

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, welcome to your Sterile Processing Externship. First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Bill Rochelle, and I've been in STERO Processing for over 22 years, and I'm very passionate about students and creating the best outcome and opportunity for them to be successful. So, first off, I want to congratulate you for finishing your coursework, whichever program you went through, and you should be very proud of yourself and put in the time and the work and look where you are today. This is an exciting step in your journey toward becoming a vital part of healthcare. You are a sterile processing technician. You may be nervous and pleased, no, that's normal, completely normal. And to help you get prepared, we are here to walk you through what you'll need and who you'll meet and what you'll experience, where you'll be working, and when things happen, why sterile processing is so critical, and how you can make your first day a success. So as you're thinking about the who as it pertains to sterile processing on your first day, these are some of the key people that you're going to encounter. You're going to encounter your precepts. And as you may have heard, that is the person that's going to guide your learning and keep you on track. They're going to be checking in with you daily. They're going to be teaching you all the steps, the departments, the phases, the different aspects of sterile processing, and they're going to be that guide. You're going to be able to communicate with them as you go through your preceptorship as an internship student. You're going to meet other style processing technicians, and these are going to be people that are going to help you and guide you as you move through. These are going to be some veterans. Maybe they're fairly in the industry a few years, but they have the experience and know what it takes to get you hired on and to be successful. So you want to be that empty sponge in the department. These are the frontline workers handling daily tasks in decontamination, assembly, and sterilization. You're going to be meeting supervisors or leads. They oversee the workflows, they assign the duties and they make sure the standards are met. You're going to meet operating room technicians, anesthesia techs, maybe even some CNAs or some patient care assists who will be assisting in the operating room setting. You're going to meet OR techs or surgical techs. These are the ones in the procedures with the doctors. As well as you might even meet a physician assistant or a surgical first assist, which is someone who's highly trained in doing surgical procedures to assist the physician in the room. So this is very, very exciting. As we approach the word what, we're covering the who, what, where, what, and why of cell processing extensions. On your first day, you can expect a lot of new sights, some sounds. Maybe you hear the sterilizer going in the background right now. You're going to hear new sounds and new terminology. But do not worry, you're not expected to know everything right away. You're going to spend time meeting your preceptor, touring the department, and getting familiar with safety rules. You may see trace coming back from the operating room, machines running loudly, and staff moving quickly. At first, your role will be mostly observation, but over time you'll progress to assisting, and you will begin to eventually perform some of the tasks under supervision. As we're approaching the word where, where does all this happen? This is going to be happening in the cell processing department, which is divided into a few zones that we're going to touch on. Decontamination. This is where contaminated instruments are going to first arise. Assembly, where trays are inspected, they're going to be rebuilt or organized and packaged. Sterilization, where instruments are processed and auto plays, maybe your sterile, gas plasma, or low temperature sterilizations, and in sterile storage, where your instruments are kept ready for the operating room one day at a time on day one, inspect the shadow and decontamin or assembly to see the foundation of your workflow. As we approach the word winning, when does your learning begin? Well, you're begun your learning technically began when you first started your course, or if you did a self-cuddy self-study course, you will have learned it during that self-study time. But from the moment you step in the door of that hospital, the first introduction, that first observation, it all matters. And remember, if you are early, you're on time. I know, I know. If you are early, you're on time, but if you're on time, you are late. You do not want to be coming to the shift report at seven. You want to be there early with a pad a pit with a pad and a pencil. Show them that you're punctual, that you're on time. Let people wonder who you are. I'm the new student. My name is ABCD, whatever your name is. That first introduction, that first observation that matters. You know, most extern ships follow the department's normal schedule. So if the shift starts at 6, you'll start at 6. Starts at 3 p.m., you'll start at 3 p.m. Be prepared for early mornings because SPD must be ready before surgery begins. As we think about the word why, one thing to remember is cell processing is often called the heartbeat of the hospital. Every instrument, every tray, every tool a surgeon uses passes through this department. The quality of your work directly will impact patient safety. Clean, functional, sterile instruments means surgeries and better outcomes. Think of yourself as a guardian of patient care. Even if you never meet the patient face to face, your work touches the rod. What you do as a student will have direct impact. You're gonna assemble trays, you're gonna clean instruments, you are going to be impacting a patient's life. Let that sink in. You're about to impact a patient's life. That's amazing. As we're transitioning on to the word the word how. How can you set yourself up for success on your first day? As we mentioned, arrive early. It shows respect and eagerness. Wear proper attire and follow PPE rules. Remember, safety always comes first, and you will be trained on this in the facilities. Um, and if you did have a hybrid or an in-person class, no doubt you've already talked about this. Bring a notebook, right? Jotting down what you see will help you learn faster. Listen more than you speak at first. Observe the workflow, and then you can ask those thoughtful questions. So we we as preceptors we love questions because sometimes you have the solution to something we haven't thought about. So please bring your creative path on your creative mind because we need to hear from you. And finally, give yourself grace. No one expects you to know everything on the first day. What matters is curiosity, consistency, passion, and effort. So take a deep breath, stay curious, and remind yourself you're part of something bigger. Every tray you see, every instrument comes directly to a patient who is counting on you. So, once again, welcome to sterile processing and welcome to the heartbeat of patient safety.