Navajo Preference Employment Act
In accordance with Navajo Nation and federal law, TCRHCC has implemented an Affirmative Action Plan pursuant to the Navajo Preference in Employment Act. Pursuant to this Plan and corresponding TCRHCC Policy, applicants who meet the necessary qualifications for this position and (1) are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe will be given preference in hiring and employment for this position, (2) are legally married to enrolled members of the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, or San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and meet residency requirements will be given secondary preference, and (3) are enrolled members of other federally-recognized American Indian Tribes will be given tertiary preference.
Overview
POSITION SUMMARY I/II
This position is an established training position to obtain Certified Registered Central Service Technician. The position is subject to a three (3) year service commitment agreement and requires rotational scheduling and on-call (night, weekend, and holiday) coverage upon successful completion of established didactic and clinical training to perform basic duties of a Sterile Processing Technician and as determined by the OR SCN. Responsible for receiving, inspecting, tests, assembling, decontaminating, sterilizing, packaging, labeling, performing inventory, and distributing instruments and supplies. Operates and trouble shoots sterile processing equipment and completes required documentation. The II/III level is aware of the value and function of each instrument and piece of equipment and treats it accordingly. The goal and mission of the department is to have the right instrument and equipment at the right time for the right patient.
POSITION SUMMARY III/IV
This Sterile Processing Technician Level III/IV will be responsible for daily oversight of activities, communication, between the Operating Room (OR) and Sterile Processing department (SPD). The SPD Technician will provide support and direction for case cart assembly on a daily basis and procures instruments in the OR Sterile Instrument Room. The position is subject to a rotational scheduling and on-call (night, weekend, and holiday) coverage upon successful completion of established didactic and clinical training to perform basic duties of a Sterile Processing Technician and as determined by the OR SCN or Lead SPD Technologist. Responsible for receiving, inspecting, tests, assembling, decontaminating, sterilizing, packaging, labeling, performing inventory, and distributing instruments and supplies. Operates and trouble shoots sterile processing equipment and completes required documentation. The III/IV level is aware of the value and function of each instrument and piece of equipment and treats it accordingly. This SPD Technician will adhere to the goal and mission of the department is to have the right instrument and equipment at the right time for the right patient. The SPD Technician will be responsible for adhering to established Joint Commission standards to ensure compliance and safe instrument use is followed for patients of the hospital.
Qualifications
NECESSARY QUALIFICATIONS I/II
Education:
High School Diploma or GED
Licensure:
Must obtain a valid American Heart Association (AHA) Basic Life Support Certification (BLS)
SPD Tech Level I
Experience
Three (3) months experience in a hospital setting or environmental services.
Successfully complete the orientation and competency plan within three months of hire for Sterile Processing Department Upon successful completion, technician maybe eligible for SPD Tech Level II.
SPD Tech level II:
Experience: Meet level 1 requirements and complete 10 weeks or 400 hours of hospital service and within 18 months and successfully apply and achieve certification.
Certification: Must have and maintain a valid, active, and be in good standing with the Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) as a Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST).
SPD Tech level III:
Experience: Must have three years of Certified Sterile Processing Technician experience
Certification: Must Have Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) certification. Must achieved 2 certifications to include Certified Endoscope Reprocessor and Certified Instrument Specialist and maintain SPD Certification.
SPD Tech level IV:
Experience: Must have five or more years of experience as a certified SPD Tech.
Certification: Must Obtain Board Certification for sterile processing and distribution and Certified Healthcare Leader Exam. Will assist as a Team Leader for SPD. Will maintain CST and level III certifications to be eligible.
Other Skills and Abilities:
A record of satisfactory performance in all prior and current employment as evidenced by positive employment references from previous and current employers. All employment references must address and indicate success in each one of the following areas:
- Critical thinking skills, synthesize knowledge and a high level of learning aptitude.
- Positive working relationships with others
- Possession of high ethical standards and no history of complaints
- Reliable and dependable; reports to work as scheduled without excessive absences
- Excellent customer service abilities with effective listening and communication skills and maintains good interpersonal relationships and lines of communication with co-workers
- Complete Patient Sitter Competency Training (upon hire)
- Successful completion of and positive results form all background and reference checks, including positive employment references from authorized representatives of past and current employers demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC a record of satisfactory performance and that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job.
- Successful completion of fingerprint clearance requirements, physical examinations, and other screenings indicating that the applicant is qualified to be employed by TCRHCC and demonstrating to the satisfaction of TCRHCC that the applicant can perform the essential functions of the job.
- Submission of all required employment-related documents, application, resumes, references, and other required information free of false, misleading or incomplete information, as determined by TCRHCC.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS I/II
Experience:
I: One year of experience in hospital sterile processing operations
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS III/IV
Experience:
I: More than five (5) of experience in hospital sterile processing operations
Other Skills and Abilities:
Ability to speak Navajo, Hopi, or San Juan Southern Paiute
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFORT
The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical:
Incumbent must have ability to stand, maintain balance, and reach for a prolonged period of time, frequently walk, and twist, and occasionally sit, drive, bend, climb, kneel, and crouch. Position requires the ability to lift up to 34lbs for a prolonged period of time, ability to frequently lift up to 50lbs, and occasionally up to 75lbs. Ability to push and pull up to 50lbs for a prolonged period of time, frequently up to 34lbs, and occasionally over 75lbs is required. Sensory requirements for position include far, near, and color vision, depth perception, seeing fine details, hearing normal speech, hearing overhead pages, and telephone use. Must have both hand manipulation of prolonged simple and firm grasping, fine manipulation, and use of keyboards.
Mental:
Must be able to prioritize and use good judgment. Must be able to coordinate a variety of issues while being frequently interrupted. Must have ability to cope with high level of stress, make decisions under high pressure, cope with anger/fear/hostility of others in a calm way, manage altercations, concentrate, handle a high degree of flexibility, handle multiple priorities in stressful situation, work alone, demonstrate high degree of patience, adapt to shift work, and work in areas that are close and crowded. Must accept a flexible schedule to meet unit needs.
Environmental:
May be exposed to infectious diseases, chemical agents, hazardous or moving equipment, and loud noises for a prolonged period of time. May frequently be exposed to dust, fumes, gases, and extremes in temperature or humidity as well as occasional exposure to unprotected heights.
Responsibilities
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS I/II
Attains knowledge of aseptic principles, microbiology, and medical procedures sufficient to understand the ways that diseases and infections are transmitted, the importance of clean and sterile supplies to patient care, the general use of medical instruments and supplies and the precautions necessary to maintain sterility of supplies.
Proficient in all aspects of sterilization and disinfection techniques and performs various steps of processing supplies, instruments, and equipment: receives, inspects, decontaminates, tests, assembles, packages, labels, and sterilizes.
Operates various types of equipment but not limited to, washer/sterilizer, ultrasonic cleaner, steam autoclaves, and peracetic acid disinfectors.
Performs and evaluates the results of chemical and biological tests in the sterilization process.
Maintains sterilizer log documentation.
Inventories and provides instrumentation for inpatient and outpatient patient areas.
Reports malfunctions to supervisor, troubleshoots equipment or takes item out of service as appropriate.
Participates in instrument/equipment or supply recalls when necessary.
Sorts mismatched sets of instruments, trays, and medical equipment, assembles, appropriately sterilizes or disinfects to make them available for patient care in a timely manner.
Collects and distributes instruments, trays, crash cart, and facility medical equipment.
Acts as liaison to client areas by providing education and resource information as necessary.
Participates in educational activities by providing and attending in-services.
Ensure proper PPE is always worn while on duty including but not limited to, face mask, gloves, gown, isolation gown, NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirator or higher, if available), and eye or face shield.
Complete all donning and doffing tasks in a safe acceptable method and discard of used PPE accordingly. (see CDC website for most current updates).
Complete task training for all routine cleaning and decontamination processes for all surfaces contaminated by a communicable disease to ensure a high level of patient, visitor, employee, and external customer satisfaction.
Performs other duties as assigned.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS III/IV
Communicates clearly with the operating room staff and sterile processing staff members to coordinator instrumentation throughout the day for scheduled and non-scheduled cases.
Reviews daily schedule with Charge Nurse, Specialty leaders and the supervisor or lead of sterile processing, identifying possible turnover delays or scheduling issues.
Acts as a resource for the SPD and Surgical Services departments for the acquisition of necessary instrumentation for scheduled and non-scheduled cases.
Knowledge of Joint Commission standards to ensure sterile processing standards are followed.
Ability to recognize and take actions in questionable situations or circumstances to react. Stop, look, and take action to facilitate and promote a “just culture work environment.”
Attains knowledge of aseptic principles, microbiology, and medical procedures sufficient to understand the ways that diseases and infections are transmitted, the importance of clean and sterile supplies to patient care, the general use of medical instruments and supplies and the precautions necessary to maintain sterility of supplies.
Responds to problem calls from Operating Rooms and performs preliminary investigations as needed.
Restocks, labels, and maintains inventory, submits requisitions, collects and distributes instruments, trays, urology cart, and facility medical equipment.
Determines priority level of instrumentation and equipment requests, may include preparing and delivering case carts with extreme accuracy. Proficient in all aspects of sterilization and disinfection techniques and performs various steps of processing supplies, instruments, and equipment receives, inspects, decontaminates, tests, assembles, packages, labels, and sterilizes.
Operates various types of equipment but not limited to, washer/sterilizer, ultrasonic cleaner, steam autoclaves, and peracetic acid disinfectors. Understands the responsibility of task training and proper cleaning of equipment and maintenance.
Performs and evaluates the results of chemical and biological tests in the sterilization process.
Maintains sterilizer log documentation daily and reviews quarterly to ensure operability.
Inventories and provides instrumentation for inpatient and outpatient patient areas.
Reports malfunctions to supervisor, troubleshoots equipment or takes item out of service as appropriate (tags out equipment in need of regular maintenance).
Participates in instrument/equipment or supply recalls when necessary.
Maintain proper logs and records relative to the sterilization process, including load records and biological monitoring records.
Sorts mismatched sets of instruments, trays, and medical equipment, assembles, appropriately sterilizes or disinfects to make them available for patient care in a timely manner.
Collects and distributes instruments, trays, crash cart, and facility medical equipment.
Acts as liaison to client areas by providing education and resource information as necessary. This includes completing training and education for the level I/II SPD Technicians in the department.
Participates in educational activities by providing and attending in-services.
Maintains biological and chemical wash solutions to ensure quality and consistency for decontamination of instruments and medical equipment, while maintaining a clean environment.
Ensure proper PPE is always worn while on duty including but not limited to, face mask, gloves, gown, isolation gown, NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirator or higher, if available), and eye or face shield.
Complete all donning and doffing tasks in a safe acceptable method and discard of used PPE accordingly. (see CDC website for most current updates).
Complete task training for all routine cleaning and decontamination processes for all surfaces contaminated by a communicable disease to ensure a high level of patient, visitor, employee, and external customer satisfaction.
Performs other duties as assigned.