Health Care Industry

CIS course draws rave reviews

Healthcare Purchasing News, Sept, 2007

When IAHCSMM introduced its Certified Instrument Specialist course in Nov. 2006, the Association expected it would garner positive interest. But the attention it received--and continues to receive--has managed to surpass those expectations.

To date, 131 central service professionals have earned the CIS designation, and IAHCSMM routinely fields calls from others in the field looking to do the same.

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The push for CS staffers to advance their knowledge is testament to the level of commitment technicians have to their discipline and to quality patient care delivery. Although most CS departments are challenged with limited time, staff and other valuable resources, and face an overwhelming responsibility to their hospital customers and the patients themselves, a growing number of technicians are willing to dedicate their spare time to advance their capabilities and sharpen their most important skill--which is to effectively manage continuously evolving technology and increasingly complex devices for different specialties.

The CIS course, which features an easy to use workbook with more than 200 photos, a glossary of surgical instrument terms, and sample charts, checklists, surveys, graphs, and references, was specifically designed to simplify the task of identifying, handling, processing and inspecting instruments. "The course offers CS professionals a one-stop resource that provides them with all the information necessary to help them effectively and efficiently perform their instrumentation-related duties," explained IAHCSMM educational director Natalie Lind.

Another valuable tool associated with the CIS course is the CIS Facilitators' Guide, which supports CIS course instructors and serves as a useful in-service tool to educate instrumentation staff (regardless of theft decision to pursue certification).

"The Facilitator's Guide serves a dual purpose as a CIS prep course--for technicians preparing for the CIS course and as a staff inservice tool," noted Lind, adding that each lesson in the guide is approved for continuing education by IAHCSMM so a manager that invested in the materials would have a CIS prep course and 11 staff inservices.

Self-study is also available for the Instrumentation Specialist Certification, with courses being offered in IAHCSMM's bimonthly newletter, Communique, and also on the Association website. As Lind pointed out, the addition of the self-study lesson plans will make it easier than ever for CS staff to meet their six CIS continuing education credit requirements.

A positive lesson

One CS educator, who recently completed the CIS course, discovered that technicians of all experience levels were able to glean pertinent information from the materials. Over a three-month period, Cheron Rojo, SPD educator at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, CA, instructed ten techs, whose experience spanned 1.5 years to 30 years.

"When I took the course, I thought it had great information about the SPD today. It was also fun, so I thought I would share the wealth of information with everyone and decided to teach the course," he said.

The course was a success on numerous fronts. For starters, Rojo explained that the techs were very open-minded after the very first chapter and were interested in sparking discussions on current issues impacting the department. "The techs gave great ideas for [improving quality within the department] because of the course."

Not only does the CIS course help technicians learn the correct names and uses of instrumentation used every day, it also creates a common language that reduces confusion that prompts standardized knowledge on a global scale, pointed out Donal Gassaway, a 25-year CS veteran who just took the course at Saint Agnes. "I recommend this course so the common language of instruments is used internationally."

Peter Carrion, one of two of Rojo's students with a 30-year history in CS, said he believed the knowledge gained with the CIS course "can only help with patient care delivery."

According to Lind, this just goes to show that there's always room for professional growth. "Whether a tech is new to the profession or has been there for decades, there's always room for continuing education and an ongoing commitment to quality."

CIS certification requires that technicians are a currently certified CRCST. Maintaining CIS status requires that technicians maintain their CRCST requirements (12 points per year) and obtain six additional points for CIS. The topic areas should be related to the certification; that is, those holding a CIS certification would need 12 points for CRCST and an additional six points on instrument-related subjects. For more information on the CIS course, log onto http://www.iahcsmm.org/instrumentation.htm.>