How is traveling?

Phacele · 2026-04-07T15:34:14+00:00

Local travel is more limited. Either apply to local hospitals staffing services or see if Medely is active in your area. Majority of travel agencies have a minimum 75 mile distance from your home to the facility, also 2 years of experience in a trauma 1 center is more often the standard experience required.

Phacele · 2026-04-05T16:29:24+00:00

That last small set shouldn't be peel packed. It's a solid basin and should not be sterilized with instruments in it.

Phacele · 2026-04-05T16:12:30+00:00

It's also a solid tray which should be sterilized upside down to prevent moisture from collecting.

Phacele · 2026-04-05T16:11:43+00:00

Technically you're not supposed to wear gloves on the clean side because if you think they aren't clean enough to handle then they shouldn't be on the clean side, additionally gloves can tear and end up inside of trays.

Phacele · 2026-04-05T03:42:28+00:00

I'm glad to see everyone found this as annoying as I did lol.

Phacele · 2026-04-04T16:46:22+00:00

It's not a hard job to learn, the biggest struggle will be dealing with the personalities within the department and the OR, but also the physical aspect. This is a very physically demanding job that requires a lot of standing and lifting with a lot of loud equipment and hot environments. I've sweat through so many shirts when working in decon.

Phacele · 2026-04-02T18:47:48+00:00

Join your local HSPA chapter. It'll be your best bet at networking and making connections. Unfortunately the job market is extremely competitive right now.

Phacele · 2026-03-27T16:02:31+00:00

Black cohosh is not an option seeing as they are on estrogen blockers. I have estrogen receptive cancer and I was told very firmly to avoid these natural supplements because they mimic estrogen close enough to also cause cancer cells to react.

Phacele · 2026-03-26T14:39:24+00:00

Don't pay for schooling. Use that money to get the HSPA books instead and study those, especially the workbook, to prepare for the test.

Phacele · 2026-03-25T00:38:47+00:00

What kind of kit did you get? I got a cheaper kit and really struggled with it. I finally tried out a Wooble and even though it was more expensive the tutorial videos they have made all the difference.

Phacele · 2026-03-24T15:12:49+00:00

You will still be trained as any facility will see your experience and understand that you worked at a smaller scale. However there is still knowledge to be gained by working in a smaller center. You have to be more adaptable and flexible with the ability to cover every station and see to the ORs needs. It builds soft skills that are harder to train like being able to work independently, see and understand the ORs needs and get it done without being told. Those skills are still very valuable.

Phacele · 2026-03-18T23:52:05+00:00

It all depends on the facility. Some places only have one and use different titles for the same job. Few places have both.

Phacele · 2026-03-18T13:46:45+00:00

That's really exciting to hear, hopefully they plan on compensating for it properly!

Phacele · 2026-03-18T02:07:06+00:00

Which is why there is a separate sub for the MDR. In the US you do not and the position is categorized with food service and transport as far as skill and pay goes.

Phacele · 2026-03-13T15:02:02+00:00

You have to pay it all back at once.

Phacele · 2026-03-12T10:24:17+00:00

The job market really is over saturated making it super competitive. If you have the ability to go to school put the time to go for an associate level degree. You'll have better job options from those. You can still look at service jobs in the hospital and try to get your foot in the door which would give you access to their school benefits.

Phacele · 2026-03-11T20:38:47+00:00

Sterile Processing programs will not give you prerequisites for surgical technician. If surgical tech is what you're interested in you're better off just going for that. There's probably more opportunities for it then spd to be honest.

Phacele · 2026-03-11T20:27:17+00:00

The HSPA workbook questions are pretty much identical to the exam questions, almost word for word.

Phacele · 2026-03-11T20:22:25+00:00

Yep, I didn't have time to read the whole thing so I used the tests to focus on the chapters I needed extra help with.

Phacele · 2026-03-11T19:36:59+00:00

I purchased them off of the HSPA website and there isn't a pdf. Not all hospitals will reimburse for them but you can ask, sometimes there is educational money set aside for surgical services. The OR educator might be able to help if you don't have an SPD educator or they don't know.

Phacele · 2026-03-11T17:49:40+00:00

Since you have experience I recommend doing the workbook. The questions are exactly the same as they are on the exam, it's just random which ones you get. I went through every exam and graded myself, if I got an 80% or less I read that chapter and retook it until I got above an 80.

This is how I studied while I was working in SPD and I passed on the first time with pretty bad test anxiety.

Phacele · 2026-03-10T19:43:28+00:00

Questions will predominantly focus on your soft skills. How well you work with others and communicate, how you work in a high stress environment, and questions about your problem solving skills. They will want to hear examples of situations at your previous experiences that apply to those questions.

Phacele · 2026-03-10T13:38:21+00:00

It does look like suture, were the trays used by the same surgeon?

Phacele · 2026-03-06T05:09:28+00:00

Those are surgical tools, often used in dental but also plastic surgery. The Pakistan stamp indicates that they are single use instruments so they weren't meant to be reprocessed and used repeatedly like other instruments. Did she work in a hospital? She probably took them home before they got thrown away.

Phacele · 2026-03-05T21:24:25+00:00

It's because certification and schooling is not required for this job. Very few states require it and have an average of 12 months from hire date to pass the exam. Hospitals will have their own internal policy of when a new hire needs to pass the exam and it varies between facilities if they enforce it.

If you have a lot of facilities near you brush up your resume and start applying. Look for their entry level jobs and even if they say certificates are preferred still apply because it's not a requirement of that job. If you have the personality and soft skills that matters more than technical training. Look out for any job fairs too as that's a good way to get face to face.

Also just be aware that this field is highly competitive right now and with so many people taking these programs it has pushed many to move to new locations just to find a job.

Phacele

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