Sterile Processing Technician I

Eisenhower Health•Rancho Mirage, CA

13d•$21 - $31

About The Position

Provides system-wide support for hospital, surgical, and clinic instruments, intubation boxes, and crash carts. The work directly impacts patient care by helping prevent infections through proper decontamination, cleaning, inspection, assembly, sterilization, handling, and transportation of surgical and procedural instrumentation. The technician processes instruments and supplies according to manufacturer instructions and department procedures, supports operating room schedules, and contributes to quality, efficiency, cost reduction, and sustainability initiatives.

Requirements

High school diploma, GED, or higher-level degree if hired after July 1, 2023.
Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and unexpected situations.
Ability to be assertive and consistent in following policies.
Ability to communicate effectively in a positive and professional manner.
Ability to handle difficult and stressful situations calmly and professionally.
Ability to prioritize tasks and manage time efficiently to meet deadlines.
Ability to routinely lift up to 25 pounds while processing, storing, and distributing instrument sets.
Problem-solving skills to identify issues and formulate effective solutions.
Written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) certification.
Certified Endoscope Reprocessor (CER) certification.
Experience in Sterile Processing, Central Services, or healthcare.

Responsibilities

Comply with the Code of Conduct and compliance policies; resolve compliance questions or concerns and report suspected violations.
Follow manufacturer Information for Use guidelines for cleaning, solution selection and dilution, disassembly, reassembly, sterilization or high-level disinfection, storage, and packaging.
Identify and separate instruments requiring manual decontamination from those safe for machine decontamination.
Combine instruments into sets and select the appropriate sterilization or high-level disinfection process.
Operate and troubleshoot sterilizing, cleaning, and disinfecting machines; perform biological sterilization tests; confirm sterilization compliance; use computerized barcode instrument-tracking systems; transport sets to storage locations; and distribute them to end users.
Disassemble, inspect, and reassemble instruments using knowledge of instrument details.
Run cleaning cycles, investigate errors, and maintain decontamination equipment.
Inspect instruments for contaminants and verify that instruments and equipment are in good working order before assembly.
Identify single-use versus multiple-use instruments and discard single-use instruments.
Select and use sterilization wraps, containers, and peel-pouch packaging, along with appropriate sterility quality-control indicators.
Select, perform, and interpret diagnostic and biological tests on multiple models and types of sterilization machines.
Collect instruments and sets and develop surgical case carts for individual operating-room cases; select non-instrument medical supplies using surgeon preference cards.
Process opened or used adult and pediatric emergency crash carts; replace used items, check for outdated supplies, restock, and reseal carts.
Process used emergency intubation boxes; replace used items, check for outdated supplies, restock, reseal, and redistribute boxes to hospital and clinic care sites.
Assist the Supply Coordinator in maintaining defined supply par levels for Central Sterile Processing.
Contribute to efficiency and priorities established by daily operating-room surgery schedules.
Support process-improvement, quality-improvement, cost-reduction, and sustainability initiatives.
Maintain knowledge of risks and daily PPE use when exposed to contaminated and sharp instruments with known and unknown biohazard risks.
Follow manufacturer recommendations for dilution of chemicals used in the department.
Prioritize instruments, equipment, and supplies based on scheduled surgeries, surgeries in progress, and add-on cases.
Perform other duties as assigned.