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Apr 4
5 min

5 Common Sense "Secrets" for Successfully Selling to Sterile Processing Leaders

Future Sterile Processing leaders don't just fall from the sky. Most of them are already working as technicians, specialists, or shift...

Hank Balch

Mar 13
4 min

Against the CC-Shotgun (and Other Email Etiquette Tips for Sterile Processing Professionals)

I knew I had really stepped in it this time. Early one Monday morning I received a call from an OR manager wanting to "talk" to me about...

Hank Balch

Feb 26
4 min

90 Days of Sterile Processing Glory: Taking Dominion of SPD Onboarding

Unfortunately, when your administrator asks how long it takes to train one of these CS stuntmen, you can't be honest and say "forever."...

Hank Balch

Feb 19
3 min

Know Thyself: 3 Reasons Why Self-Awareness is the Holy Grail of Sterile Processing Career Growth

"All men are ordinary men; the extraordinary men are those who know it." Knowing the ordinary-ness of yourself and behaving accordingly...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
4 min

One Book to Rule Them All: 5 Creative Ways to Read the AAMI Standards and Not Get Bored

There's a running joke in literary circles about books that few people have ever read, but every one pretends to -- books like Moby Dick...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
3 min

Break "the Rule": Why the Two-Week Notice is Not Your Friend in CS/SPD

If at all possible, although you may be leaving your current organization, you should do so in a way that does not unduly burden...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
4 min

The Power of Words and the Wonder of Wit: 5 Tips on Leveraging Language as an SPD Professional

A well-placed word, or a "word in season" as Proverbs calls it, has the power to punch a one-way ticket to people's memories like few...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

Big Fish, Little Pond: How to Become A Key Opinion Leader in the SPD Universe (If You Want To)

At the end of the day, whether you're meeting another SPD leader for the first time, giving a presentation at a local association...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
3 min

"Extremely Dangerous, and Potentially Fatal Outcome for Patients": Another Anonymous Letter from SPD

Countless times we have been ordered to disregard IFUs for the sake of a speedy turnover. Too many surgeries, not enough sets or staff...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
2 min

A Call to Conscience: An Open Letter to the Sterile Processing Industry

I don't know what to do. I am new to sterile processing and am horrified by what I am seeing. My mother passed away from an infection...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

Get Schooled: The Critical Need for Collaboration Between SPD Training Programs & Your Hospital

Throughout my career as a Sterile Processing manager and later system director, finding qualified technicians for our departments was...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

How to Host a Sterile Processing Olympics: Leadership Field Guide

There are few words that instill a greater sense of epic-ness in the hearts and minds of most people than the word "Olympics"...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

"Well, I Didn't See That One Coming": 5 Secrets to Dealing With Surprise Resignations in Your SPD

Although some resignations carry with them the sting of personal defeat, others are tinged with bitter-sweet excitement for a new...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
3 min

The Case for "Product Advocacy" in the Sterile Processing Universe: Why We Need Each Other

If your department has fallen in love with a lumen brush or rigid container system, share your story, tell your tale...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

Five Recruiting Pools You Didn't Know Existed: How to Find Aces for Your SPD Places

To paraphrase the prophetic words of Flannery O'Connor, "A good man [or woman] is hard to find." And that couldn't be truer than in SPD...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

Getting Over Decontam Oversights: How to Help Your CS/SPD Team Never Miss a Microbe

One unseen Fogarty insert that makes its way back to the OR can cost your facility upwards of $10K if it is discovered on the sterile fie...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
5 min

Happy, High Performers: A Beginner's Guide to Culture Satisfaction Surveys in Sterile Processing

(A few years ago, my SPD department in Louisville Kentucky had the highest performance cultural assessment scores of any department in an...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
3 min

The Great Pity of the Sterile Processing Pizza Party: Recognition Drowned in Marinara Sauce

I've got nothing against pizza. Believe me. I'd push a grandma out of the way if she were holding up the line for some buffalo ranch chicken

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
4 min

The Truth About CEUs: Why Your Sterile Processing Team Deserves More...Education

Before there is an insurrection from the accreditation wing of the Sterile Processing world, let me just come out and offer a disclaimer ...

Hank Balch

Dec 17, 2019
4 min

I Will Cut You: 4 Decontamination Safety Concerns Your OR/SPD Teams Can No Longer Ignore

There are few more dangerous places to work in our nation's hospitals than the decontamination room of a Central Sterile department...

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