Blessing Health System has claimed a notable advancement in its commitment to patient safety. The health system’s Sterile Processing Department (SPD) has recently garnered Advanced Sterile Processing Certification from the internationally recognized accrediting body DNV. This accomplishment shines a light on the health system’s dedicated focus on maintaining the highest criteria of sterility in its instruments and surrounding environment, ultimately enhancing patient care and safety.
The SPD at Blessing Health System has the distinction of being the 21st recipient of this certification on a national level and only the third in the state of Illinois, thereby setting a benchmark in patient safety. Tasked with sterilizing patient care instrumentation across all clinical departments within the health system, the SPD handles a myriad of complex devices including robotic instruments and delicate endoscopes. These tools, integral to surgical and clinical procedures, require meticulous care and handling, all of which is meticulously overseen by the workflow of the SPD.
Acting as a central player in the health system’s efforts to prevent infection, the SPD plays a pivotal role in ensuring positive patient outcomes. Adhering to stringent timeframes, the department manages to clean, inspect, assemble, and sterilize instrumentation all within a span of 24 hours, keeping patient care as uninterrupted as possible. In any given fortnight, over 20,000 instruments and instrument sets are sterilized, a testament to the department’s continual operation and the diligence of its 20-strong staffing team.
Each staff member is obligated to earn international certification within a year of joining the department and maintain their certification annually. The department’s manager, Cathy Wittler, speaks of the high quality work standards upheld by the department, highlighting their ingrained motto, ‘there is a patient at the end of every instrument’.
The DNV certification, valid for a span of three years, is founded on the guidelines and recommendations of prestigious organizations such as the Association of Perioperative Nurses, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. In addition, the requirements also align with relevant precepts of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation for Hospitals. In order to continue compliance, the SPD will undergo an onsite inspection annually.