Central Sterile Processing Technicians are responsible for cleaning and sterilizing medical
instruments and devices and safely transferring and storing them. Sterile processing technicians, also
called Central service technicians, play a significant role in preventing spreading or causing infections
in patients at hospitals by sterilizing, processing, storing, and distributing these sterilized medical
devices. Their job involves daily sterilization of surgical instruments and medical supplies required in
crucial surgeries for reuse.
HOW MUCH DO CENTRAL STERILE TECHNICIANS MAKE?
Indeed.com puts forward the average salary of a Sterile Processing Technician as $26.29 per hour in
the United States. Their Annual Salary can be as high as $65,500.
The Sterilization Equipment Market is expected to grow over 7% CAGR by the year 2025. This
predicted increase is caused by an increasing number of healthcare-associated infections in developing
nations. The Covid-19 pandemic stands as the most recent example. Many doctors and sterilizing
technicians succumbed to the virus, which created their acute shortage. There has been exponential
growth for Sterile Processing Technicians Jobs; the employment is expected to increase 17%. Know more about the Impact of Covid-19 on Sterile Processing Technician jobs.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL CENTRAL STERILE PROCESSING TECHNICIAN
There must be some skills and qualities that a central sterile processing technician must have to do
complete justice to the job profile. These are:
● PATIENCE
Sterile processing technicians’ duty requires the person in charge to be patient. Since the
person works in a healthcare setting and has a crucial role to play amid the tiring and severe
conditions during surgery, it becomes imperative for a sterile processing technician to be a
patient person. Their job requires swiftness and ultimate accuracy. A sterile processing
technician would spend his/her whole day washing, sterilizing, drying every screw, hinge, and
aperture used in surgeries.
● PHYSICAL FITNESS
Sterile technicians need to stand for long hours, move in and out of the hospital setting, and
work in a stressful environment. Thus, for performing all these tasks, a central processing
technician is expected to be good at his/her physical health and stamina.
● CAUTIOUS
Sterile processing technicians are needed to be cautious at all times when cleaning surgical
appliances. Sterile Technicians must be meticulous in preventing contamination of surgical
instruments. They work with cleaning and assembling complex and costly medical
instruments, and this type of work indeed calls for a cautious person.
● LOVE FOR DETAILS
A central sterile processing technician must pay absolute attention to every detail and every
nook and corner of the equipment while performing the sterilization process. The safety of
patients in a hospital is in the hands of a doctor and their surgical devices, hence, indirectly on
the sterile technician. A central sterile technician in the US and everywhere is also required to
shift medical equipment from one place to another after completing the sterilization, cleaning,
processing, and assembling process. He/she ensures that the tools and devices are safe to use.
All this needs the person to have a great love for details; otherwise, it would not be complete
justice to such a crucial job.
● KEENNESS
Technology is ever-advancing. You can find every new gadget, device, appliance, or
equipment being invented or modified every day. The same goes with the sterile technician’s
medical equipment as well. Sterile technicians are responsible for sterilizing and processing a
wide variation of appliances. A Sterile Processing Technician needs to be keen about what
advancement has been made in the health industry and their devices to lend maximum
efficiency and quality to their work.
HOW TO BECOME A SKILLED STERILE PROCESSING TECHNICIAN IN THE US
To become a certified sterile processing technician, your educational qualifications and innate skills
play a significant part. One should get into the US’s sterile processing technician certificate program
to become a skilled sterile processing technician and well-known in the industry. The minimum
educational qualifications that these sterile processing technician certificate programs demand is a
high school diploma or its equivalent. Through their practical and visual reality classes, these sterile
processing technician training in the US prepare their graduates to face the real world and its stiff
competition. These institutes provide sterile processing technician training in the US, have well-
established connections with competitive employers in the respective industry, and prepare you for
the standards demanded by the modern world’s market out there. Once you have joined such a
technician training program, you can leave everything upon their expert educators to induce in you the
necessary skills required for the industry, but you will have to work equally hard.
I hope you like 5 Characteristics Of A Successful Central Sterile Processing Technician. If you have
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