Sterile processing departments play a critical role in hospital efficiency. These individuals are responsible for ensuring doctors and health care staff have the equipment and resources they need to care for patients. Teams with low productivity or efficiency don’t just impact the rest of the SPD team—they also affect the entire hospital. Procedures can be delayed (or canceled), staff morale plummets, and, worst of all, patient satisfaction decreases.
To avoid this, you need to keep SPD productivity and morale high. And while you may have practices and incentives in place to maintain efficiency, there may be one or two technicians who are chronically unproductive. These individuals, who we’ll refer to as “the unproductive technician,” can be catastrophic to not just your team, but the entire organization.
Rather than terminate these individuals (an action that may not always be justified), there are ways to work alongside the unproductive technician. Yves Theodule, Manager of Sterile Processing at Advocate Aurora Christ Medical Center, described how to work with unproductive technicians to maintain productivity, patient safety, and workplace morale.
Organizations across industries have been affected by labor shortages and the Great Resignation. According to one source, nearly 1.7 million healthcare workers quit their jobs in early 2022. For SPDs, labor shortages and difficulty in attracting and retaining top talent have increased the number of unproductive technicians in health care facilities. “Sterile processing already has a hardship in hiring employees,” said Yves. “It’s hard to find great technicians and I’m always searching for new techs. I even teach a course on sterile processing and I’m still struggling to find great technicians.”
Labor shortages and difficulty attracting and retaining top talent has increased the number of unproductive technicians in SPDs. These unproductive technicians, according to Yves, are the ones who are “playing on their phone instead of working, watching movies, or listening to music.” Essentially, they’re individuals who do the bare minimum in their job roles. And these individuals can be incredibly dangerous. “How accurate are your trays going to be if you’re watching a movie and building a tray at the same time?”
However, unproductive technicians are smart. They’re good at hiding in plain sight. Yves described them as “busy bodies”. “There’s a lot of movement…and it looks like they’re working hard and going above and beyond, but they’re not really doing anything.” He continued by describing these individuals as being friendly and clever, putting on a show of working hard while their manager's eyes are on them. However, once the attention is off them, they’re back to doing the bare minimum—or nothing at all.
Unproductive technicians are also quick to point out issues within the department to take the focus off their inefficiencies. “These individuals are pointers,” Yves said. “They’re pointing at everything that’s wrong because they want to take leadership’s focus off what’s really going on.” Yves continued by reminding leadership it’s their responsibility to correct these individuals, as high-performers are watching to see how these individuals will be handled.
Not every technician who’s brought into an SPD is going to be unproductive. There are a myriad of factors that can decrease a technician’s productivity. Yves described a few factors that contribute to low productivity rates.
SPDs across the country are struggling to fill vacant positions with high-quality candidates. With numerous positions going unfilled, HR personnel and recruiters are overly eager to fill these positions. This means that low-quality candidates (i.e., unproductive technicians) can slip through the cracks and wreak havoc on SPDs.
To avoid bringing on unproductive technicians, it’s crucial for recruiters or managers to ask the right questions. “Go beyond the traditional interview questions,” Yves said. “A lot of the questions are simple and straightforward and don’t give insight into how well someone can actually do a job.” Yves encouraged hiring managers to get creative with the questions they’re asking–questions or scenarios that encourage interviewees to think critically and on their feet.
Unproductive technicians pose a number of challenges within SPDs–increased errors, increased risk to patient safety, decrease in team morale, and more. To avoid these consequences, Yves encouraged leaders to carefully monitor new techs during the first 90 days. “When you first meet a new person, they should be giving you 100%. You should see them trying hard and if they’re coming in the door and showcasing lazy behaviors, correct it quickly.”
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For more information about streamlining processes in your SPD, visit censis.com.