Ask the Experts: Sterile Processing

Part 4 of 4: Why better planning for surgical growth, operational performance, and patient safety requires sterile processing expertise early in the decision-making process.

3 of 4: How technology, artificial intelligence, automation, and data are reshaping sterile processing leadership

Part 2 of 4: Recruitment may bring people into sterile processing. Development is what determines whether they stay.

Part 1 of 4: How emerging sterile processing leaders are redefining leadership through trust, accountability, psychological safety, and professional development.

For International Infection Prevention Week, Infection Control Today explores how prevention connects hospital departments with everyday community life and why infection preventionists (IPs), sterile processing department (SPD), professionals, and environmental services (EVS) teams deserve lasting support.

This week in infection prevention: Kenya's imported Ebola case showed how fever screening can miss an ill traveler, Florida's dengue outbreak reached 296 local cases, and new guidance underscores that missed surfaces and shared equipment fuel AMR risk. Our weekly roundup covers these stories and more.

During Sterile Processing Week, Infection Control Today honors the professionals behind safe instrument reprocessing and calls for year-round investment in education, staffing, resources, and meaningful collaboration across health care teams.

Understanding current water quality is a starting point for ST108 implementation. John Kimsey, vice president of processing optimization and customer success for STERIS, spoke about his HSPA presentation on assessing readiness, distinguishing system qualification from routine testing, and understanding where water samples should be collected.