SPD beyond phenol phenom

Under the groundbreaking work of British surgeon Joseph Lister in the 1860s, the functional importance of sterile processing emerged.

Thankfully, sterile processing as an integral component of contemporary high-quality healthcare has come a long way since those halcyon days of spraying instruments with carbolic acid. Within 50 years of his discovery, antiseptic practices in surgery called for and justified the need for sterile processing and infection control as hallmarks of healthcare operations.

The second half of the 19th century saw this as an earth-shattering, watershed of a moment in discovery. Repairing tractors in a largely agrarian, pre-industrial society to lengthen their duration of use before too many mechanical parts wore out seemed logical and necessary; repairing bodies in a similar manner, until Lister, bordered on magic.

By the second half of the 20th century, however, sterile surgery practices were commonplace. How the instruments and tools used for sterile surgery arrived in the surgeons’ hands when needed seemed to become … an afterthought.

If all sterile processing professionals harbored and expressly exhibited the attitudes of this year’s SPD Department of the Year, Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, IL (southwest suburban Chicago), there might not be such a need to recognize excellence because it would be so difficult to distinguish it from mediocrity.

Advocate Christ’s award-winning SPD team bills itself as doing “crucial work” in the “heart of the hospital.” To Advocate Christ, SPD stands for “Serving Patients Diligently.” This may be refreshingly atypical — but it shouldn’t be.

More than 150 years ago, expected outcomes motivated those who performed what would become known as sterile processing services.

As time marched forward so did healthcare industry recognition and understanding of the microbiological world of bacteria and germs, further justifying the expertise of the sterile processing performers.

At some point within the last century, however, healthcare facilities, by and large, vacillated between taking sterile processing performers for granted (for some ridiculous, nonsensical reason if you contextually trace their origin) to pursuing educational and training opportunities designed to morph performers into professionals.

Thankfully, the latter prevailed even if mindset pockets of the former continue. Today, certification exists not only to reinforce and demonstrate proficiency in the clinical specialty — and yes, at its core sterile processing should be held at or near a similar level as infection prevention — to a certified sterile processing professional, those letters following his or her surname signify learned skills and earned recognition. Few, if any, in the C-suite should casually dismiss or ignore their impact. Quite the contrary, they should encourage, if not require, the presence of those acronyms with full support. In fact, the Cs should feel comfortable and proud knowing that sterile processing professionals with CRCST and/or CSPDT affixed to their names actually prepared the devices and instruments being inserted into or used on patient-customers.

For the last two decades or so, the May edition of Healthcare Purchasing News historically profiles an award-winning SPD team, and this year the tradition continues.

At the same time, the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) celebrates its 60th anniversary. To many, that represents a lifetime of dedicated service, a profession of profound importance and a function of fundamental need.

To those outside of the SPD realm, be sure to salute your SPD colleagues all month long, and remember them during the rest of the year, too.

To those inside SPD’s sanctum, know that you’re appreciated, honored and respected for what you do — or should be. Certainly, move about your facility with that attitude — not one of arrogance and egotism — but of the modest notion that patients heal and recover because you play a vital role in their well-being. The surgeon, the nurse — and you — on the front lines, the hospital’s triple aim for a healthy society.