Central Service Technician Certificate

SPTCTC20

Certificate of Completion: 30 credits

Enrollment Point: Summer or Winter Quarter

This program is designed to provide the training and the clinical experience required to prepare you for the International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST). It can also be your first step toward a career in the healthcare field. Students gain knowledge of National and International standards for decontamination and sterilization. Students study the principles of microbiology with emphasis on decontamination, disinfection and sterilization, with an overview of medical terminology, fundamentals of human anatomy, proper care and handling of surgical instrumentation, basic surgical instrument identification, inventory control, distribution, purchasing, and healthcare trends. An internship at a local hospital is included in the program.

Program Learning Outcomes: 

• Safe Practice: Apply the principles of safe practice in the Central Sterile Processing (CSP) Department 
• Ethical, Moral, and Legal Standards: Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical, moral, and legal standards related to patient care 
• Cleaning, Disinfecting, and Decontaminating: Clean, disinfect, and decontaminate medical devices, equipment, and instruments 
• Competency: Function as a competent Sterile Processing Technician following guidelines established by IAHCSMM 
• Scope of Practice: Function effectively within the approved scope of practice 
• Communication: Communicate in a manner appropriate for a perioperative professional 
• Cognitive: Recognize elements of good patient care and prioritize them before less important elements in the operating room 
• Psychomotor: Accurately plan for and perform duties of a surgical technologist in the scrub role in common surgical specialties 
• Affective: Accurately plan for and perform duties of a central processing technician in common surgical support roles 
• Fundamental Knowledge: Acquire fundamental knowledge about the central processing unit, operating room, and patient, toward safely performing necessary and appropriate skills and adapting to changing situations 

These outcomes are designed to prepare students to function as crucial members of the surgical team and demonstrate knowledge of safe practice, ethical, moral, and legal standards, cleaning, disinfecting, and decontaminating, competency, scope of practice, communication, cognitive, psychomotor, affective, and fundamental knowledge