With a growing emphasis on care quality, patient safety and positive outcomes (and even cost containment), it stands to reason that healthcare organizations are more committed than ever to employing the very best professionals in each discipline. While some CS departments are expanding their budgets to accommodate ongoing education and certification — and, in some cases, are willing to increase pay for their most committed and valued employees — that shouldn’t be the sole driving factor behind one’s willingness to raise the professional bar.

Career analysts stress that taking personal responsibility of one’s career trajectory and taking calculated leaps to stay ahead of changes in the discipline will help healthcare workers achieve long-term success and greater job satisfaction. It will also help ensure that they’re well-equipped to function optimally and efficiently, and deliver the best possible service to healthcare customers and patients.

"Our pursuit of learning must never end," stressed IAHCSMM President David Jagrosse, CRCST, CHL. "Knowledge is a very powerful thing and it’s absolutely necessary for those of us responsible for reprocessing devices. Devices, procedures, practices and standards continue to evolve and the only way for us to keep up is to stay educated and push ourselves beyond what we already know."

According to career analyst Brent Radcliffe, workers boost their career potential by developing and refining their professional capabilities. The more one knows about a particular job’s function or the more is understood about a particular industry, the more valuable they become to an employer, he reasons.

Those who stay dedicated to their craft and deliberately avoid on-the-job complacency become front-runners for promotions and other opportunities to advance in the workplace. A good manager pays close attention to those who go the extra mile and routinely demonstrate competency and professionalism on the job. If a promotion isn’t feasible at the time, that employee may be pegged as a departmental mentor or, perhaps, an interdepartmental liaison. If a career ladder program is in place, these dedicated staff members may find themselves scaling it quickly and opening themselves up to new professional opportunities inside and outside the CS department. What’s more, if the employee’s own facility isn’t wise enough to recognize that hard word and professional dedication, the odds are good that a competing facility will.

Career ladder programs can go a long way toward enabling workers in healthcare settings to attain on-the-job education and skills training. "We believe that employees, at all levels in their healthcare career, deserve the opportunity to advance," reasoned Rebecca Starr, Deputy Director of the Jobs to Careers Initiative. "Education and training is the key to advancement."

Perhaps the greatest advantage of pursuing continuing educational opportunities and committing to knowledge advancement is the satisfaction that comes from delivering the safest, highest quality service for patients and healthcare customers alike. Thanks to the many educational opportunities that exist today, CS professionals of virtually every background, title and tenure have the ability to become experts in their field, and be respected as such.

"I define ‘expert’ as someone who knows more about a specific subject than I do; in other words, someone I can learn from or learn with," said IAHCSMM Education Director Natalie Lind. "When I have the opportunity to learn, I always open the door. The information I gather helps me grow with our field and also helps others grow."

Staying focused on information-sharing and knowledge-building is crucial in healthcare, especially in CS where technology is always advancing and failure to stay abreast of those changes can negatively impact patient outcomes. "At work, not understanding everything about reprocessing a surgical instrument can be life-threatening. We must keep up with change."

Lind recommends CS professionals take one step at time — beginning with taking responsibility for increasing one’s own knowledge and then sharing what was learned with others. This can occur through self-study, mentoring processes, or attending a class or educational conference.

Lind recalled her first IAHCSMM conference where she not only learned a great deal from the expert speakers, but also from her fellow attendees. "I was able to forge relationships that have lasted more than 20 years. Those relationships were the start of a network of professionals where I could ask questions and share best practices. Having access to their knowledge, insights and experience has helped me so much over the years."

Whichever way a CS professional chooses to pursue knowledge advancement and professional growth, one thing is clear: the efforts will pay off greatly for the employee, customer, patient and facility. With quality service comes professional pride and satisfaction in knowing that one’s roles and responsibilities have a direct impact on others.