Ideas That Work: Peer Interviews

The sterile processing department is not an easy place to work. If you want to make sure new sterile processing techs mesh well with the current team and understand exactly what the critical job entails, let your current SPD staff members interview potential new hires. Whenever we're thinking of adding reprocessing techs, I give our SPD staff a pool of candidates and allow them to set up interviews with prospective new hires. Although they do have a form of ready-made questions to reference, there's room for improvisation. These peer interviews give the people who are actually going to work with a new person the chance to have more of a say in what matters most when we're hiring. Of course, I also conduct interviews, during which I make the candidate dress in scrubs, walk the department, and see and hear the main objectives of the job. But our SPD staff are the ones who have the final say on new hires. On top of empowering them to find the best person for the job, the peer interview process has improved camaraderie and morale throughout the entire department.

Jan Prudent, BA, CRCST, CIS, CHL, CFER
Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
Idaho Falls, Idaho
[email protected]