Thursday Talks: Jill Paul
This Thursday, we are featuring Jill Paul, infection control program coordinator at Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM). Read more about her and the sterilization process at the school.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do here at RSDM.
I’m the infection control program coordinator at RSDM. I also oversee the sterilization area and staff downstairs on A level, ensuring that the area runs smoothly, and everything is reprocessed correctly and in a timely manner.
What got you interested in this field?
I have been a dental hygienist for a very long time. About eight years ago I was looking to transition away from direct patient care. I went on the RSDM HR website and saw a position posted for a dental infection control safety technician. I was responsible for OSHA monitoring in private practice and always liked administrative operations as well. It seemed like a position I would be interested in and utilizing the experience I had from my hygiene career would make it an easy transition. So I interviewed and was lucky enough to be selected for the position.
Can you walk us through how the sterilization process works here at RSDM?
Interestingly, we’re introducing this experience as a closed rotation to students starting next year! We are planning on having 5-6 students each Monday go down to the central sterilization area observing the decontamination process and working through the prep and pack/sterilization steps. Seeing how everything actually gets sterilized, packaged, and sent back to the areas will help dental students get an idea of how long the entire process really takes. It is much longer than you think.
How long does it take and how does the process work?
It is a huge facility down there! The department is divided into two separate areas: the contaminated side and the clean side which is also known as the prep and pack/sterilization side. The washers and a cart washer divide the two areas. The instruments and closed-case carts go into the washers on the contaminated side and come out on the clean side.
Each clinic has a metal closed-case cart in the dirty dispensary. Contaminated items are put into that cart in the clinics to be brought down to the intake drop-off downstairs for reprocessing. Once the cart is received, it is emptied and the items are processed through the washers. The washer cycle takes about half an hour and once completed the items are now ready for prep and pack. There are six prep and pack stations, where individuals work getting everything ready to be loaded into the sterilizers. The sterilization cycle takes about 50 minutes. The turnaround time from the dirty dispensary through sterilization and back to the clean dispensary is about 4 hours.
That’s definitely longer than I expected. What do you like the most about RSDM?
The people that I work with, students, faculty, and staff. I like meeting new people and hearing other people’s stories.
What do you enjoy doing outside the school?
I love to bake! That’s a big one. I also like to travel, read, watch TV, craft when I have time, dine out, go to the beach, and just hang out with family and friends.
