Sterile Processing Technician

Job Overview

This role puts you at the heart of patient safety and infection control. As a Sterile Processing Technician in Stockton, CA, you'll be the person who makes sure surgical instruments and medical equipment are perfectly clean, sterilized, and ready for use. It's a structured, detail heavy environment where following protocols isn't optional ; it's everything. Hospitals, surgery centers, and clinics all depend on techs who can handle the pace without cutting corners.

Duties & Responsibilities / JobXi / Stockton, CA

• Decontaminate instruments. You'll break down trays after procedures, manually cleaning soiled tools before they hit the automated washers. This step is messy but non negotiable for what comes next.
• Assemble sterile packs. Matching instrument sets to their inventory lists requires focus. One missing clamp can delay a surgery.
• Operate sterilizers. Steam autoclaves, hydrogen peroxide plasma units ; you'll load them correctly, run cycles, and interpret printouts to verify parameters were met.
• Monitor biological indicators. Daily spore testing proves your sterilization worked. If a test fails, you pull affected loads and start an investigation immediately.
• Distribute supplies. Delivering wrapped trays to operating rooms or nursing units means managing par levels and tracking inventory so nothing runs out mid shift.

Requirements / JobXi / Stockton, CA

• Certification required: HSPA (formerly IAHCSMM) CBSPD certification is standard. Some employers in Stockton, CA may accept CRCST or CSPDT if actively working toward full certs with a timeline attached.
• Experience: Six months in a sterile processing department is typical for most listings here. New grads from accredited programs sometimes get hired with externship hours counting as experience.
• Physical demands: You're on your feet eight to ten hours straight lifting heavy instrument pans (20 40 pounds repeatedly). Standing on concrete floors with constant reaching and bending is normal.
• Cognitive requirements: Following surgical count sheets exactly matters more than speed early on. You need to catch mismatched serial numbers when loaner sets come in from different vendors mid call shift.

A Typical Day / JobXi / Stockton, CA