SPECIAL FOCUS


profession and want to make a difference in a patient’s life, McVaugh says. In fact, BE INSTRUMENTAL, through Bayhealth, is affiliated with Delaware Technical Community College to provide clinical training for students enrolled in the sterile processing program. Through this program, students complete the 400 hours of hands-on training as part of their curriculum and gain the experience needed to work in SPD, she adds.


For two years SPD also concentrated on staff satisfaction to solidify the cohesive- ness of the team – including experience/ knowledge sharing, boosting morale and trust among each other and with Periopera- tive Services. From delegation to empower- ment, team building to development, the efforts yielded a 6% overall increase in employee satisfaction in one year alone, according to McVaugh. That overall measurement contained two key statistics – a 22% increase in “going above and beyond” and a 24% increase in “sufficient time to do their work,” McVaugh cites. For the first one, the SPD leadership


team used the volunteer firemans analogy olunteer fireman risk their lives going into burning buildings to save strangers. Why do they do that? Because they feel valued, respected and needed,” she said. “Leaders emphasized this mantra and wanted all staff to gain the same men- talityfeeling of the olunteer fireman. Team members will also always go above and beyond when motivated by strong leadership – Bayhealth’s investment in the new structure as well as successful recruit- ment of strong leaders further solidified this area. We also saw gains in this area with enhancements with Perioperative Services-SPD relationship and that team members feel that they are being seen by their customers.”


McVaugh attributes the second one to department streamlining and the provi- sion of education, which included the hiring of an educator to the SPD manage- ment team. ducation empowers workflow, she said. “When we have variation in work- flow, it is easy to have inconsistent time to complete tasks, various order of opera- tions, etc. In the spirit of lean, educating to one process can always yield greater time and level loading – it is clear our staff feels that. I think that any time an organization develops standards, gives expectations for timing per step and allows the team to have the knowledge to either remove


unnecessary steps or to improve how they can perform a step, the results will always yield more time.”


Efforts seem to be paying off as shown by SPD-collected data on error frequency. In 2019, SPD recorded 622 variances; that number plummeted to 162 in 2020. As defects occur, SPD investigates them in real time using their SPM software and identifies their root causes, according to McVaugh. SPD strives to reduce defects to below 0.8% by the end of the year, something McVaugh says will be achieved. This year, SPD leadership created a dashboard to showcase their performance with customers. Dolan used a SmartSheet application and Excel to create this web- based tool for internal sharing. Looking ahead, SPD will continue func- tioning as a high-performing team through effectiveness and efficiency, according to McVaugh. This includes strengthening the “systemness” of SPD and eliminating barriers between sites of care, using data and analytics to assess service delivery, collaborating with other departments to facility better patient outcomes, working with suppliers and providers to optimize instrument inventory and using evidence- based practices to drive a consistent service model and standardized sterilization pro- cedures, she adds. McVaugh admits that two elements of


the strategic plan pose the greatest chal- lenges. “Instrument optimization is the


hardest because it involves forging new direct relationships with surgeons,” she said. “SPD usually had to work through nursing for these. We are taking ownership of Perioperative Services instrument bud- get so we can have direct discussions. Data is also a challenge as we need to continue scrubbing our sources.” As for the least challenging? “Systemness,” she answered. “We have a great foundation and team invested in our long-term plans.” McVaugh believes that any SPD team should be able to emulate what they’ve accomplished within the last two years – and within the same timeframe. “It starts with leadership support and setting a solid goal and plan of attack for improving the area,” she insisted. “You must harness the data and understand cur- rent state, gaps and needs. Only then can you really identify the countermeasures necessary to move forward.” HPN All photos courtesy Bayhealth.


There’s more to see online!


Bayhealth SPD team roster: https://hpnonline.com/21218026


Bayhealth SPD serves as challenge solvers: https://hpnonline.com/21218023


From law enforcement to pro football to laser safety to SPD, Bayhealth SPD leader’s ca- reer track has been a wild ride: https://hpnonline.com/21218024


Bayhealth Sussex Campus


Tech II Jeanine Francois empties the washer disinfector.


Lead Tech Shayla Walker stages clean instrumentation.


Tech II Jo Ann Matthews cleans instrumentation.


Sterile Processing Educator Rasheena Muhammad restocks inventory.


hpnonline.com • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS • May 2021 15


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