95. SPD Stories from the Trenches

Each SPD has problem areas of their own, but have you ever wondered how facilities across the country might look or perform? Our Healthmark Education team has been all over the United States and has that insight into how we are doing as an industry…the results aren’t always pretty.

In this episode, Cheron, Malinda and Seth discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly and what we as an industry can learn from these findings. Don’t miss this chance to gain insight into what other facilities are doing well, and what mistakes you need to avoid!

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94. Implementing an Endoscope Surveillance System

Do you know what is inside your flexible scopes? Microbial surveillance can tell you exactly what is living inside your scopes, but how can we implement that kind of program? Dr. Mary Ann Drosnock joins the podcast to share how we can create these types of programs at our facilities and help further protect our patients!

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Fire in the OR! Why Checking Cords for Integrity and Continuity is Important

Have you ever had fire start in your SPD or OR? Or have you heard of a patient being burned by electrosurgical equipment? If FDA reports are any indication, most of us have experienced at least one of these events at some point in our careers. So how does this happen in such a controlled and secure environment? In this episode of the Ask the Educator Podcast, Kevin and Adam speak to Jahan Azizi about all things electrosurgical to understand why testing the integrity and continuity of our cords and cables is so vitally important to keep patients safe.

What Do You Do When it’s Not in the IFU?

After a LinkedIn post made by our host, Kevin Anderson, about the importance of testing bipolar forceps for insulation integrity, our guest, Rebecca Peplau, commented about a scenario featuring a specific brand of bipolar forceps and how the SPD technicians were potentially damaging the forceps, just by doing the routine testing! Nothing was written about the issue in the IFU, however. Listen in to learn more about what happened, and how this issue was resolved!

Where is Your Why?

In many processing departments too, much emphasis is placed purely on repetition as the means educating the staff. Unfortunately, this leaves many processing professional ill equipped to make good decisions when problems arise. In these moments, when critical thinking is required, staff members whose education lacks a true understanding of why they are doing the task the way they are will be ill prepared to react appropriately. This also effects staff’s ability to participate in risk assessment activities as well.

Incorporating “why” into any department’s education program will add quality by creating technicians that not only understand how to do their job but why they do it that way.

90. What is PB70 and the Protective Barriers Committee?

Tune in to this episode featuring Jill Holdsworth and Cheron Rojo to get introduced to PB70, the Protective Barriers Committee.