Three
respected Sterile Processing managers today launched a new online forum for CS
professionals, “Reprocess This!”
The
new blog (www.reprocessthis.com) was developed to create “a medium for sterile
processing managers to network and discuss the hard-hitting issues that are
facing the industry,” said Jennifer Burrell, BS, CRCST, CSPDM, one of the three
SPD professionals writing regularly for the forum.
Burrell,
a microbiologist, is Director of Education and Clinical Compliance for IMS, the
nationwide surgical instrument management and consulting provider that is
hosting “Reprocess This!” IMS provides SPD management and clinical consulting
in the OR, repair for surgical and endoscopic equipment, instrument and device
inventory management; real-time online data and tools to track instruments,
tissue, and implants.
The
other regular contributors are:
Tracy Humphreys,
BS, MS, CRCST.
Humphreys, CS Manager for Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, MI, was selected as
IAHCSMM’s CS Manager of the Year in 2011. With 13 years experience in SPD, she
is active in national and state professional organizations.
Kristina
Pirollo-Ketchum, CRCST, CHL, ACE. Pirollo-Ketchum is Manager of SPD and
Perioperative Surgical Services for MWHC Stafford Hospital in Stafford, VA. Her
work has appeared in IAHCSMM Central
Source, Healthcare Purchasing News,
and IAHCSMM Communiqué.
Although
the three have different educational and professional backgrounds, they share a
belief in Sterile Processing’s critical role in patient safety - and they are
passionate about the need for continuing education in the SPD.
“This
blog is an an effort to raise the bar and help us all stay abreast of the
latest and greatest technology,” Pirollo-Ketchum said. “Not only can we learn
how others handle issues or concerns, but we can use the blog to keep up with
changing standards. Knowledge is power.”
Burrell
said SPD professionals need an informal setting for the exchange of opinions
and information.