One cannot deny the purpose and role of the sterile processing department (SPD) in the hospital. This is especially true if you work in the operating room (OR). Still, the importance of SPD is often forgotten until a problem during a surgical case arises.
Healthcare workers know that no single department within a healthcare system can stand alone and function well independently. This is especially true of both the sterile processing and surgical services departments. This relationship is paramount to successful patient outcomes for several reasons: patient outcomes can be affected, productive hours can be lost for numerous reasons, quality in projects can become compromised, and relationships can be damaged.
The SPD and the OR is a pair of unique departments with each having certain inherent qualities. Some characteristics that are only owned by one, the other or both is another truth. Each has personnel with varying levels of education and experience. Each faces challenges in retaining highly skilled members. Each has the ability to influence the outcomes of many other units within the hospital setting. Each is directly affected by the successes and failures of the other. Yet rarely do these two teams see eye-to-eye.
Unfortunately, these departments often have old history and baggage between them. The relationship can be tumultuous at times and barriers may seem to abound. This does not have to be the case. It may take re-building the relationship to establish new norms, but it will be well worth the effort. Fixing and re-establishing a healthy working relationship requires recognizing facts. This means shedding some long-lingering and usually wrong assumptions and acquiring accurate information concerning each to build better mutual understanding and respect.
The path to a better relationship begins with a willingness to improve, followed by the realization that neither entity will fully grasp the other’s responsibilities without constructive dialogue and active listening. This takes time and effort; however, once this process starts the rest comes a bit more easily. Establishing empathy and beginning a healthy dialogue can be the most difficult part of the process. So, where do you begin?
It begins when someone initiates the first move. Breaking down barriers and trying to effectively remove old perceptions is challenging. It requires constructing a healthy amount of trust between both entities. A few things must occur:
• If your sterile processing manager or surgical director has not initiated an initial conversation, reach out to them and make the first move; keep in mind there may be some initial resistance or defensiveness.
• For the first collaborative meeting, make sure it is conducted in a neutral location to try to reduce misperceived or actual power dynamic issues that may currently exist.
• Set the tone of the first session for open communication. This meeting’s purpose should not be used to solve long-established problems, but rather to show a willingness to be open to future collaborative corrective action and/or new objectives.
• Set the ground rules early and communicate them before the start of the meeting; this will help set the expectations and aleviate some preliminary tension.
Objectively looking at each entity’s strengths and weaknesses is a helpful part of building a strong future. Along with reviewing departmental strengths and weaknesses it is critical to establish an understanding of the equally important threats and opportunities that will inevitably be present. They often parallel each other, so doing this requires an analysis.
Mitigating each department’s risks is pivotal. Organizational structures that are in place will vary from facility to facility and this can sometimes complicate reducing risk. While communication is one example that may be affected, it can be improved more readily than other concerns. Without an assessment of SPD and surgical services it will be difficult to fully ascertain the extent and type of re-building that may need to occur for the departments to function better both independently and collectively. Communication issues can be both a symptom and a cause for other concerns, usually. It is a good place to start, but it is not the sole thingto address.
During the analysis formation, additional areas for concentration may become apparent. Resulting in opportunities for the units to further correct, expand or improve services or functions that may extend past the immediate or initial identified opportunities. This process forces a candid look at the most obvious areas as well as the more subtle functions of both the SPD and the OR. Often it highlights the crux of what might be contributing to the hampering of the interdepartmental relationship as a whole.
