AHE launches certification for operating room cleaning

AHE is proud to announce the launch of its Certified Surgical Cleaning Technician (CSCT) program.

The intense, fast-paced operating room (OR) environment is perhaps the most critical area in a health care setting. And operating rooms are among the most infection-
sensitive environments in a health care facility.

Surgical cleaning technicians play an essential role in creating and maintaining a healthy environment and in fighting infectious diseases; they are key members of the OR team, helping to ensure that the surgical environment is properly cleaned, disinfected and safe for patients and staff. This program trains and certifies surgical cleaning technicians, ensuring they are knowledgeable, skilled and fully prepared for their role in the health care environment.

The program is a Train-the-Trainer (T3) Program. Health care facilities send members of their team to a T3 workshop to become designated trainers of the program, called a T-CSCT (Trainer of the Certified Surgical Cleaning Technician).

Once these T-CSCTs are trained themselves, they can then train environmental services technicians, OR cleaning technicians, surgical cleaning technicians and others who perform cleaning and disinfection services in the OR. Note that trainers of the CSCT program are not certified; rather, they are designated trainers. This means they do not take the CSCT exam.

The first official T3 workshop will be held Oct. 11-12 at Renown Healthcare in Reno, Nev. Trainers of the program can start training right away once they are ready and have purchased Participant Guides.

The CSCT is a 16-hour training program, culminating in an exam for technicians. It covers five core domains: infection prevention, cleaning and disinfecting, problem solving, communication, and impacts and outcomes.

T-CSCTs can conduct the training over the course of two full days or can break up the curriculum and train in 2-hour increments over the course of a week or several weeks.

Those qualified to be certified include surgical cleaning technicians and ambulatory surgical cleaning technicians, OR technicians, environmental services technicians, supervisors and leads.

Once there is a T-CSCT on board at a facility, he or she will identify and train the technicians for the program. The CSCT curriculum is written at or above the junior high reading level, but is suitable for employees with additional education.

For more information, visit www.ahe.org.

Sandra Rials, M.S., is director of education for the Association for the Healthcare Environment.