By John Wallace
OR Today webinars continue to break attendance records. The past two webinars, sponsored by Healthmark and Medline, set new highs for attendance.
The August 15 webinar “Preventing Surgical Site Infections Through a Decolonization Bundle” was presented by Rosie D. Lyles, MD, MHA, MSc, and sponsored by Medline. It set new records with the most registrations and attendees since the series began in 2014!
A week later, those records were broken with 563 people registered for the Healthmark-sponsored webinar “C.H.I.P. Tips: Care, Handling, Inspection & Prevention for the Sterile Processing Professionals” presented by Cheron Rojo and Seth Hendee. The session drew 278 attendees for the live presentation on August 22. Attendees gave the webinar a rating of 4.1 on a 5-point scale.
Cheron Rojo, AA, CRCST, CIS, CER, CFER, CHL, and Seth Hendee, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CER, CFER, IAHCSMM-approved instructor, Clinical Education Coordinators at Healthmark Industries reviewed sterile processing tips in everyday tasks. They also reinforced the basic technical principles that are used in the sterile processing department. They went on to discuss the importance of handling instrumentation and equipment within your department, as well as understanding the impact that standards and guidelines have in a properly functioning department that processes instrumentation and medical devices.
Attendees provided positive feedback via a post-webinar survey.
“Excellent review of quality checks and balances in the SPD department and monies needed to provide quality review by this staff for the OR staff and ultimately our patients,” Surgery QA Coordinator J. Jesse said.
“I truly felt that the information presented can help staff and hospitals provide better care for their patients and train SPD staff to think more critically,” shared L. Sherman, RN educator.
“Presenters were very knowledgeable and understood the challenges experienced by reprocessing staff. Great use of pictures to help the attendees follow and connect to the information being shared,” said F. Alston, regional manager.
“I really enjoyed today’s webinar! It covered a lot of information on how to verify your equipment in the sterile processing room that we use to ensure the proper function of surgical instrument is working like it’s supposed to,” said L. Gosso, CRCST CIS.
“Very enlightening. I am aware of most of the testing we do on our machines to make sure they are working properly, but there were some that we went over (that) I wasn’t aware of. Now, we can better manage our equipment and make sure everything is checked on a daily or weekly basis,” Medical Supply Tech A. Sterbutzel said.
“The webinar was very thorough and covered topics that were very important and sometimes overlooked or not practiced routinely enough in the workplace. It refreshed and reinforced the practice standards, thereby improving efficiency, quality and patient outcomes,” Central Sterile Tech A. O’Brien said.
“I am brand new to my position, and this webinar gave me a great overview of what should be checked for quality assurance as well as how. I will be reviewing our procedures to see what we need to change,” RME Coordinator D. Maestas said.
“The ‘C.H.I.P. Tips: Care, Handling, Inspection & Prevention for Sterile Processing Professionals’ webinar is an extremely educating and informative webinar. Our SPS enjoyed watching and learning new information and validate processes that we currently have. Thank you so much,” SPS Educator L. Hall said.
“I found this webinar interesting and very informing. The slides and examples were fantastic. Everything really held my attention and I didn’t want to be disturbed. The moments when I was distracted, I was disappointed that I could not rewind,” Sterile Supply Tech A. Minor said.
“The webinar provided insights that not all professionals always think about. For example, testing the monopolar/bipolar cords or the insulated forceps, not a lot of techs are aware that these are crucial things to be tested. Also, testing of the washer temperature for the washers is also something that is crucial. Attending webinars like these are great for new staff and also techs that have been doing this for years; it’s a great learning experience and a great refresher. Mahalo for the great information,” Manager J. Martinez said.
The next scheduled OR Today webinar is “oneSOURCE Document Site Surgical Instrument, Equipment and Tissue/Implants Database Demonstration” on September 12. It will be presented by Lindsay Frkovich-Nelson, vice president of sales and marketing at oneSOURCE Document Management Services.
For more information about the OR Today webinar series, including recordings of previous webinars and registration for upcoming sessions, click on the “Webinars” tab above.