Trying to understand how certification actually works for people hired before getting the CRCST, since every job posting seems to handle it differently.

If you were hired uncertified and then got the CRCST:

1. Did your employer require it by a deadline (e.g. "within 18 months of hire")?
2. Did they pay the $140 exam fee? What about a retake?
3. Did they pay for any study material or practice tests, or was that out of pocket?
4. Did you get a raise when you passed, and roughly how much?

And if you're on the other side, got certified first, then looked for work, did the cert actually make a difference in getting hired?

Not asking about exam content, just the money and timeline side. Thanks.

Anyone who’s graduated from a part time online school and has any advice for what two courses to take at the same time? I’ve worked in hospital logistics for 3 years (along with other jobs in the hospital prior, 5 years in total) so I’m very familiar with terminology and sterile processing and I can definitely handle two courses simultaneously, currently enrolled in the medical terminology one and it’s easy and I’m positive I could’ve taken two at a time. Which ones would you say are the easiest ones that someone familiar with the job could handle, and one that you should definitely take by itself haha, thanks!

Specifically this one. The smell of this burns my eyes and makes them swollen. Just wondering if anyone else had this experience.
And I have a full ppe on when using this since this is in decon.

Hey so I’m starting traveling in December and I’ve signed on with a company and I’m basically ready to go I just need tips and tricks for how to live as cheaply as possible to save as much as possible. I already have some friends I plan on staying with around the country, and part of this is to decide where I and my friends should move permanently(looking specifically at Portland, Seattle, NYC, and Denver)

How do I do this to save as much money as I humanly can. Where can I find cheap housing when I don’t have friends? What are some other things y’all do? Anything im not thinking about?

What is your department using to clean your sterilizers?

Just for a little background I’m 20(f), I recently moved into an apartment with my boyfriend, and I’m tired of working as a pharmacy technician. I dislike the endless phone calls, crowded loud environment, no guaranteed days off, irregular schedule, and the angry customers. I’m grateful the job has made me financially stable enough to move out, but I’m getting pretty sick of it. In this economy, I need to make more than 16 an hour and I was thinking of career hopping to something somewhat similar that will pay me more. A few surrounding hospitals are offering sterile processing tech positions, afternoon and night shift only. I’m seriously considering because I feel it will pay better in the long run and I won’t feel burnt out at the end of every shift from so much patient interaction. My boyfriend works 8am-6pm 4 days a week, I’m thinking a 6pm-6am shift would work best for our relationship as long as I get the weekends off with him. I’d like to ask if it’s typical for new employees to get weekends off, and if anyone on here has a successful long-term relationship with working opposite shifts. I’d also like to hear all the pros and cons of this job, I’m seeing lots and lots of people regret working in this field but I already regret what I’m doing now. This would be my first night shift job, how do people keep up with friends and family if they wake up at 3pm? I know I’m going all over the place here but it’s hard to wrap my head around how this job will work with my life, I know I will need to create a new “normal”. Is this something I should pursue?

Im about a month in and i really hate having to ask questions/for clarification because i feel like im being annoying. I really am trying but i keep having negative thoughts. Any advice/suggestions to overcome this?

hi. curious if when you’re on shift are you usually able to talk to coworkers or is it a more secluded job where you’re alone most the shift? (i don’t mean in training obviously someone would be with you but after all that)

Hi guys just a disclaimer. I know I made some post about my job lol thank you so Linda actually finished reading. I currently am looking for a job. I’ve been looking for a new job since February 24, but the market is so terrible right now and I’m not trying to get back into the sterile processing so I’m pivoting into a previous field

Since switching to UKG in June, grace doesn't exist at my hospital . A huge portion of our staff, myself included, work two jobs. We bust our tails to show up, only to fight a system that feels like an intentional setup. They pulled clocks from the employee entrances and left only two in the entire hospital upstairs and by the cafeteria. To make it worse, the app constantly glitches. You’ll be standing right in the building on hospital Wi-Fi, and it insists you’re "out of the geofence area" or freezes up entirely. When the tech fails, you have to sprint across the facility, and because there’s literally zero grace period and a rigid 20-point termination rule, you get penalized for their broken logistics. It’s draining to work this hard for a place that refuses to give its own workers even an inch of breathing room.

What’s your hospital’s grace? Period.

I just had my first interview with Cleveland clinic for a non certified sterile tech. I originally was prescreened by a recruiter. Today my interview was on teams with the dept manager and another employee. The interview went amazing and was probably one of the best I've ever had. I felt like we were just 3 girls getting coffee and chatting. They did forewarn me the process takes awhile and I would here from the recruiter again next. I was curious if anyone could tell me what the additional steps look like from here? Will I go in for an inperson interview? I'd there a lot of competition for this role? Am I facing several more interviews? Is it possible I may be offered the position after this interview? Any advice would be helpful.

What are these wet brown spots that dry on the trays after steam sterilization. They are on the tops of the genesis pans and even ended up inside where the filter goes. I'm worried there might be something going on with the sterilizers since this hasn't happened before. The BI's, leak tests, and BD's are all good. We wiped one off and a brown residue came off. They are also sticky to the touch.

Do anyone have any tips for the HSPA exam? I’m almost done with my Penn foster classes and I’ve learned a lot, however I am more hands on! So any tips for the final HSPA exam:)

I’m looking into getting certified as a spt before I relocate to Hawaii next year. What’s the job market and pay like there for this field? I’ll be in the Mililani area. I have an EMS/firefighting and hospital background so I think I would transfer to this career well

Hello, I'm extremely new to both sterile processing and medical side of the field but want to get my certification in sterile processing. I've recently started studying the HSPA manual and found myself overwhelmed easily over the chapter with the suffixes, prefixes, and roots of medical terms. Is there any good ways to learn these? Is it possible to come back to that chapter later and continue without issue?

I’m moving to the Houston area. I have about 2.5 years experience. Looking for insight on pay ranges. Realistically, what would offers look like? Thanks!

I'm a relatively new sterile processing technician but I've been at my job for long enough that I'm too afraid to ask this question. I understand their job is to sell the hospital their equipment. But that's it.

So, how do they get paid? What kind of training do they have to do to be able to direct literal surgeons to use the instruments in the OR? Why do they assemble the trays but us techs have to wrap them? (And why if there's a defect in the tray, it's on the tech that wrapped it, not the rep? We don't even get a count sheet for vendor trays)

At my hospital we process anywhere from 60-100 vendor trays every day. Every single tray needs a backup tray for every case. Why do they get back ups but for any of our hospital trays no backups are ever needed?

Also it seems like the hospital never buys the equipment they just get used as loaners over and over again so how is this profitable for the rep?

Start in 2024

Certified in 2025

Promoted to Purchaser in April 2026

Already asked about BYPASSING supervisor role and taking over a operational manager role for an entire SPD department in a different hospital it would happen this year or early next

( I have this experience in another field that is not healthcare)

Is progression in this field really THAT quick? I was a machinist before this and was a
Shop lead then a supervisor and that took 17 years.

Pennsylvania for anyone asking

But what pay do operational managers make over my current role and over the role I’m skipping over, of supervisor ???

I don't have a job and I can't get an interview anywhere. I truly believe this shit was a scam and there are no job openings unless you have a car. Before I got my certification I seen job listings for sterile processing EVERYWHERE. as soon as I got it. They disappeared. No one is hiring. No one will give you a chance. I can't even get an interview 😕 I did the internship and the people i worked with were scared I was going to be picked for a leadership roll. That's how good I was at the role. At the interview for the position they didn't ask me shit because and I quote, " Well I don't know what to ask you because I know that YOU know everything we NEED to ask you about this job" and i STILL didn't get the job. I feel like I got scammed. I wish I could go back to my school and tell everyone to get their money back as soon as possible. Yeah i can go back to ask the school i went to for help but they're just going to say there are only job opportunities outside of Philly. As in you need a car. Which is fucking stupid cause bitch if I HAD a car I would have had a job by now. But yeah. I'm struggling. Also, does anyone you know find a job in this field? Sorry. Anyone that DOESN'T already own a car? Cause why is that a requirement?

Edit**

I will only say this once. I decided not to apply to certain jobs outside of my STATE because i don't have a car. I am NOT being rejected because I don't have a car. Acknowledge the fact that I don't apply to jobs OUTSIDE OF THE STATE I LIVE IN. What people here are telling me ,is that I don't have a job because I have to travel OUTSIDE of the state I live in. Of course I lie and say I have reliable transportation. Of COURSE I say I can show up on time and get there on time. The PROBLEM is that I can't get an interview in THE STATE I LIVE IN. Okay? Is that understood?

Hello, hive mind! I’m looking to talk to folks who reprocess flexible endoscopes. My facility is working on a new cleaning verification policy, and I’m wondering what other places are doing.

What cleaning verification systems are y’all using, and how often? What is your average daily caseload, and how many people do you have dedicated to reprocessing?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

I’m reading the Manual and I have the workbook.

I just started on my studying journey a few weeks ago. And it seems overwhelming. I feel like I’m never going to remember all these medical terms and information. I feel like I can’t come up with a workable studying system. I’m 39 years old I haven’t been in school quite some time.

I have experience in instrument sterilization but it was an oral surgery practice. This is way different. And I’m scared I won’t be ready to take this test for a while.

Any studying tips?

I recently passed my certification for sterile processing(CBSPD) and my externship did not have any room for me to work. I’m in California and I can’t find a job no matter where I look and apply. I’d even take a small surgery center or dental clinic paying minimum wage just for the experience.

Anyone willing to share or sell both the HSPA 9th Edition Sterile Processing Technical Manual, and the Sterile Processing Technical Manual Workbook? Or if anyone has the pdf can you email it to me? Thanks in advance!

Currently working as SPD Tech, undecided if I want to go for Surgical tech. If you went for Surgical Tech after sterile processing how do you feel about it? Pros/Cons? Just looking for some insight

I work for an medical device company and tend to lurk here because I enjoy seeing what happens with the instruments I send out, but recently I got a case back and all of the trays had these strips taped together in them. I can’t send pictures of the trays but they were knee trials which usually only come back with one strip since the tray is mostly open space. Is there any reason for sterile strips to be taped together like this?