How Great Educators Strengthen SPDs with Professor and Director Andrea Barnett

Professor and Director Andrea Barnett, AAS, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL, AGTS, is teaching the next generation of sterile processing technicians. Here’s what she wants them to know.

Rossville, Maryland – Regardless of one’s life path, nearly everyone can point to an educator who has changed their life for good. Whether that person was a K-12 teacher, college professor, mentor, tutor, coach, or otherwise – those with wisdom who dedicate their life to giving back to the next generation are the ones who make the world go round.

For many students and sterile processing technicians in Maryland and Delaware, that person is Professor Andrea Barnett, AAS, CRCST, CIS, CER, CHL, AGTS.

Andrea Barnett is the Director of Sterile Processing at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center in Rossville, Maryland and an Adjunct Professor at Delaware County Community College. Not only is she a professor, but she helped found the sterile processing program at the College.

After learning that the College didn’t have a sterile processing program from a colleague who was interested in furthering their studies, Andrea Barnett immediately met with the Director of the College’s Surgical Technician program. Thus, a few months of meetings and curriculum building commenced before the new sterile processing program, led by Andrea Barnett, became official.

Each semester, Andrea Barnett teaches a class of about 20 students interested in learning more about sterile processing.

“I tell my students all the time: it’s a job you have to love,” said Andrea Barnett. “It’s very tedious, and you have to know your standards. You have to know how to read an IFU (Instructions For Use). You have to know what to look for when you clean instrumentation, what bioburden looks like, how the chemicals will react to the water, the type of water that you should be using for your final rinse, the temperature of the water, etc.”

This is one of the biggest barriers to understanding Andrea Barnett faces in her work. According to Andrea Barnett, there are not many folks outside of the specialization who understand the expertise that is required to get the job done effectively and safely. That is one reason why fostering strong avenues to sterile processing education is so important to her.

“People aren’t familiar with sterile processing,” said Andrea Barnett. “Sometimes people will say it’s like washing dishes. It’s not.”

In addition to educating young people who are already interested in sterile processing, one of Andrea Barnett’s goals is outreach; she wants to expand the number of young people who are aware of and consider sterile processing as a career. Not only will this connect young people with a great, life-long career, but it will also help solve labor shortages and build the profession up stronger.

“So many hospitals and SPDs (sterile processing departments) are short-staffed. Many hospitals will even fight over the same candidate. When you’re understaffed, the rest of the shift can feel neglected or unsupported,” said Andrea Barnett. “It’s so important to introduce young people to sterile processing as a career so we can build this specialization and have the support we need.”

“The students that I have taught have gone on to get jobs as technicians,” Andrea Barnett continued. “They say that they bring everything that they learned in class to the workplace. They have even taught staff members that have been doing it for years things because of the newness of their brain and what we learned in class. They know the ‘why’ and ask important questions.”

In her students, Andrea Barnett recognizes a drive to learn. It’s the same drive that she tries to continuously ignite in herself and her colleagues – many of whom have been working in SPDs for upward of two or three decades.

“You have to work every day like it’s your first day on the job,” said Andrea Barnett. “When we get comfortable, we make mistakes.”

Technician-First Leadership

Andrea Barnett applies this ethos to herself as well. One of the ways she assures she can be the best leader – and teacher – possible is by working shoulder-to-shoulder with her team.

“I classify myself as a working director, which means that even though I’m a director, I’m still a technician, and I still get down and dirty in the department,” said Andrea Barnett. “At the end of the day, I’m a technician first. It’s about being on the frontlines for my staff and making sure they know I’m right there with them. They see me out there with them. They know I know what it feels like if we are short-staffed or burnt out. All of our collective problems fall onto all of us.”

According to Andrea Barnett, building camaraderie in this way helps with employee retention, and can even increase the quality of work being done. It also helps Andrea Barnett keep her finger on the pulse of her department’s needs.

“When I’m there in the weeds, the lens changes. The decisions I make as a director change when I feel the impacts of those decisions myself,” said Andrea Barnett.

For example, Andrea Barnett’s experience as a technician has fostered in her a strong commitment to quality over quantity. Because the stakes are so high, she focuses on giving her team the time to get their jobs done right. When rushed, people tend to skip steps. Andrea Barnett wants them to slow down and get it right the first time. Make sure there’s no bioburden. Make sure the locks work on the container. Make sure the indicator is in the tray.

“We as leaders need to evaluate what we ask of our technicians. Each tray that we complete affects someone’s life,” said Andrea Barnett. “What we do is important. So, we need to take the time and do it right.”

SterileBits: Do it Right

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