Instrument technician

Summary of Position :

The Instrument Processing Technician performs a variety of tasks to ensure instruments are available for surgical cases. The Instrument Processing Technician is responsible for the following duties (but not limited to) :

• Cleans, handles, inspects, and sterilizes surgical instruments according to infection control policies and procedures and manufacturers recommendations.
• Performs all biological monitoring of sterilizing equipment, as well as verifying that the procedure logs for this equipment is accurate and complete.
• Assists in the picking of instruments for the daily lineup of surgical cases.
• Assists in the re-order of the implant inventory, and maintains the implant inventory stock level for all implant trays.

Qualifications

Education :

High school diploma or GED preferred

Experience :

• Previous experience in reprocessing operations preferred
• Knowledge of or experience with Medical Terminology preferred

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities :

• Requires critical thinking skills, decisive judgment and ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Must be able to work in a stressful environment and take appropriate action.
• Proficient computer skills
• In compliance with patient safety standards, must be able to effectively communicate in English; Bilingual abilities preferred

Certifications / Licensure :

Current BLS / CPR certification by the American Heart Association (BLS Provider) or ability to obtain within the first 3 months of hire.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to walk, stand, sit, and talk or hear.
• The employee is occasionally required to use hands to finger, handle, feel or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Lifts, positions, pushes and / or transfer patients.
• The employee must occasionally lift and / or move up to 50 pounds.

Working Conditions

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Routine Hospital / Healthcare & Office / Administrative conditions.
• Contact with patients and guests under a wide variety of circumstances.
• Regularly exposed to the risk of bloodborne diseases.
• Exposure to infections and contagious disease.
• Exposed to hazardous anesthetic agents, body fluids and waste.
• Subject to hazards of flammable and explosive gases.
• Subject to varying and unpredictable situations, including the handling of emergency or crisis situations.
• Subject to pressure due to irregular hours, frequent interruptions and stressful situations due to multiple demands.
• Occasional travel to various health system locations.

Essential Functions

• Receives and / or retrieves instruments and scopes from the operating room, other hospital departments and offsite locations for decontamination and reprocessing, facilitating the turnover process between cases.
• Correctly processes instruments, scopes, and flexible scopes according to the infection control policies and procedures and manufacturers' recommendations.
• Safely uses the correct sterilization and disinfecting procedures according to accepted standards.
• Accurately assembles instrument trays according to the sequence list on the instrument cards, and restocks implant trays correctly.
• Maintains an accurate accounting of the trauma consignment inventory, and assists the supervisor (or designee) and surgery buyer with the re-ordering process.
• Ensures procedure logs for the sterilizers, Sterrad machine, and the Steris machines are correct and accurate. Also make certain that the corresponding biological testing relating to these machines is accurate and complete.
• Assists in picking of surgical cases, referencing the surgeon preference card.
• Responds to the needs of the department by performing other duties, as necessary.

Last updated : 2024-11-19