A Day in the Life: SPD Technician

Sterile processing technician in blue gloves, meticulously cleaning and sterilizing a surgical instrument with a sterile wipe.

(Adobe Stock 1695944528 by Nurul)

Sterile processing departments (SPD) can be found anywhere reusable surgical instrumentation is used, from quiet ambulatory centers to bustling trauma centers. Departments vary in size and hours, but their mission is identical: to deliver accurate, functional, and safe instruments that may touch dozens of patients in a single day and influence their treatment.

With such a unique workflow and many moving parts, we will examine 3 areas of the department: decontamination, assembly, and sterilization, across 2 phases of the shift: morning and afternoon. Although each facility is different, and the exact timing will vary, join us as we spend a day in the life of a sterile processing professional.

Mornings in SPD

Before the day can begin, all equipment needs to be tested and verified to be operational, including washer/disinfectors, ultrasonics, automatic enzymatic dosing machines, and sterilizers. If failures or downtime occur, and troubleshooting does not work, shift leaders are notified, and work orders are placed.

Morning huddle

Shift huddles gather the oncoming and outgoing shifts together for 10 to 15 minutes of formal and intentional communication. The huddle covers equipment updates, instrument priorities, and surgery volume for the day. It is also the time to provide department updates and any other crucial information that may impact the shift or the day.

Everyone then reports to their assigned location and gets to work. Decontamination technicians don appropriate personal protective equipment and dive in. With peak volume starting around 9 AM, it will be constant hustle and bustle as they balance manual cleaning with keeping washers loaded and running. Interruptions are a part of the job, such as the request to prioritize trays that will be required again later in the day, troubleshoot a washer’s error message, or calm a stressed operating room (OR) contact. The technicians’ day hums along at a constant and consistent pace.

Assembly (Prep and Pack)

Prep-and-pack technicians stock their stations, log into their computers, and tackle leftover trays from yesterday first. By 10 AM, instrument sets from the first cases come through decontamination;
a steady stream of trays continues throughout the day.

Prep-and-pack technicians experience more juggling as they field phone calls, keep washers empty, and interact with surgical staff and vendors coming and going. Technicians may have to pivot from one instrument set to another as priorities shift throughout the day, always balancing speed with accuracy.

Sterilization

Technicians assigned to sterilization will log into their computers, verify that testing has been completed, and set up their daily routine. They balance the operations of multiple sterilizers, including steam and hydrogen peroxide sterilizers, each with different requirements and operational capacities. This will include diligent recordkeeping as they record load contents and biological results and ensure instruments are adequately cooled or quarantined until the biological test passes, when they can safely move them to storage.

Afternoon in SPD

The afternoon brings a steady flow of work, pivots, productivity, and a continuous line of visitors looking for assistance, input, or updates. Lunch reliefs stagger to keep work moving. Midshift techs arrive just as the second wave of instruments rolls in.

Decontamination

The work is relentless. Decontamination technicians will continue their responsibilities and may receive a request to move instrumentation to the top of the line for same-day turnover. They will also receive parts of used instruments from OR and ambulatory settings and accept them in loaner trays. They will audit for point-of-use treatment before moving the instruments into the first phase of the reprocessing cycle: manual cleaning.

Tracking

For SPDs with tracking systems, detailed records will be carefully logged as technicians scan trays throughout the process; tracking instrumentation along its entire life cycle can include “receipt” into SPD and each subsequent step, such as load records for washer/disinfectors, cart washers, and even drying cabinets for real-time traceability.

In the organized chaos, a hurried vendor may drop off instruments for an urgent need that changes the course of direction for an unsuspecting technician.

Assembly

If you ever wander past the door of decontamination, you may hear the faint beat of music as a tool to keep technicians focused and pass the time. Assembly technicians will continue inspecting, testing, and assembling clean instruments and preparing them for sterilization. This may include research, a hunt for replacement instruments, and peer auditing assembled trays to verify accuracy and completeness before the sterilizer.

Our assembly techs will also be the first to be stopped by phone calls and visitors, including vendors, OR staff, and clinics coming for support or to pick up equipment. They may even welcome a stressed nurse or coordinator requesting a tray that cannot be immediately located; the SPD will need to be equipped to answer or provide insight to help defuse the situation. The continuous need to be flexible and adaptable is a necessary skill set for SPD technicians.

Sterilization

Sterilization technicians have found their rhythm and constantly rotate between sterilizers, loading, recording, monitoring, and sorting. During this time, they defend sterile integrity and advocate for the space between the sterilizer and the storage unit, where instruments cool to safe handling temperatures and confidently verify the biological results of each load.

Afternoon Huddle

First shift prepares work areas for the oncoming shift and does the necessary peer-to-peer handoff. They gather for their shift huddle, where ongoing updates will be shared. The process will continue into the late hours, with the steady hum of machines. SPD will continue to ensure instruments are safe, ready, and available for the patients in need; the SPD never sleeps.

Beyond the Clock

Although this is a very high-level look into the processes, disruptions, and pivots that make up the day in the life of an SPD technician, so much more goes into their job and professional development. SPD technicians are more than operators; they are mentors, educators, and ambassadors for patient safety. Some days, they guide students through the department. Other days, they attend OR tours or in-services to strengthen their connection to the surgical teams they serve.

At the end of a technician’s day, no 2 days are the same. They never know what challenges they will face when they start their shift. However, every phone call, last-minute change, and instrument delivered to an OR table or other location where these vital instruments are needed is part of a career where precision meets purpose. In every instrument they prepare and every challenge they overcome, sterile processing professionals embody the quiet strength and unwavering dedication that keep safe surgeries—and patient lives—possible.

Reference

1. Vo U. Why OR leaders should revisit sterile processing basics. OR Manager. February 27, 2024. Accessed August 2025. https://www.ormanager.com/why-or-leaders-should-revisit-sterile-processing-basics/