The week to honor Central Service (CS) professionals and the CS discipline itself is mere weeks away (October 9-15, 2016), and there’s no better time to plan International CS Week events and make the most of the dedicated seven days.
Shockingly, though, many CS departments let International CS Week come and go with very little attention or fanfare. It’s a tremendous shame considering the critical role CS professionals play in the delivery of safe, high-quality patient care. Each day, they work diligently to provide clean, sterile and well-functioning instruments to their healthcare customers and patients, and carefully and consistently adhere to the latest industry standards, best practices and policies and procedures. Most would agree that CS professionals, just like other healthcare professionals, deserve to be honored, applauded and appreciated for their many efforts. This is precisely why they should take matters in their own hands to ensure that the department and profession is appropriately recognized during each of those seven days.
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Celebrating on any budget
Although limited budgets are not uncommon, CS professionals can take heart in knowing that they can effectively celebrate CS Week on a shoestring budget with the help of some creativity, brainstorming and group participation — and even some assistance from other departments, such as the Operating Room, Endoscopy, Labor & Delivery, and beyond.
What follows are some tried-and-true trips for creating a memorable, fun and educational CS Week, without breaking the bank:
Honor the team
CS Week is a terrific time to reflect on professional development. Contact a local vendor to provide an educational inservice and consider inviting members from other departments, such as the OR, to participate, as well. Create a poster for your department depicting a success story that occurred in the past year, or a bulletin board with staff pictures and employment history. Managers may also ask C-level executives if they will be willing to fund a certification scholarship for staff to become certified, or help distribute certificates to employees who helped achieve departmental goals. Managers may also send a personal note or card to each member of their team to thank them for their contributions toward better patient safety and care. These types of personalized tokens of appreciation cost virtually nothing, but can go a long way toward improving employee satisfaction and morale.
Build interest far in advance
Don’t limit CS Week events just to those within the department. Let other healthcare professionals in the facility and members of the general community know about International CS Week well in advance, and share with them why celebrating the profession is so important.
Consider placing CS Week-inspired ads in facility newsletters, post flyers in common areas, and perhaps even write an article or press release for local newspapers that outlines the facility’s CS Week plans/events. The more aware others are of the event, the more likely they will be to participate and lend support.
Target all seven days
create a different educational/celebratory opportunity for every day of CS Week. Consider an open house for one day, for example, and recruit vendors to provide educational inservices on another one or two days. Host a lunch, dinner or dessert social, and invite team members from the OR, Infection Prevention and Endoscopy, for example, as well as C-level executives, elected officials and others to participate. While these individuals are there, keep them engaged with educational offerings, such as process demonstrations, videos or standards-based trivia games. Light snacks and refreshments also serve to draw (and keep) receptive crowds.
Court collaboration
In the weeks leading up to CS Week, work with healthcare customers and create poster presentations, bulletin boards or hands-on demonstrations of how each department can assist CS (and vice versa) in doing their job more effectively and efficiently. Spraying or wetting soiled instruments after a procedure and before they make their way back to decontamination, and keeping instruments sharp and well-maintained are just two examples that could be shared to promote quality and teamwork.
Honor other departments
CS professionals can drive more support for CS Week (and their profession, in general), if they take time to honor and recognize their healthcare customers/partners for their efforts and contributions throughout the year. Infection Prevention Week also falls in October, which provides a golden opportunity for CS and IPs to partner and create a unified front during each profession’s dedicated week. The same is true of Perioperative Nurse Week, which is set for November. Consider baking cookies as a heartfelt thank you and ask how members of the CS team can help honor their profession. Reciprocation is invaluable for driving support and keeping appreciation going long after each department’s designated week of celebration draws to a close.HPN
For more CS Week ideas and planning inspiration, visitwww.iahcsmm.org/events/cs-week.html.
