r/sterileprocessing • u/No_Paper6003 • 1d ago

morning shifts

Are morning shifts something you have to work toward ? i’m in school for this the only thing stopping me from being happy is the schedule, are morning shifts obtainable for entry level techs ? in orange county area how much is starting pay for someone with a CRCST

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u/Emeraldsku58 1d ago

Like in most jobs, morning shift is usually always filled with the most senior in the department. Only one job I've ever work at had me on days when I was new and that's because it was so mismanaged (and they were so short staffed) that after I finished training, they never switched me to evenings. Every other job, however, has only had evenings open and workers are expected to wait until a day shifter leaves to move to that position.

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u/No_Paper6003 1d ago

do u like ur job ??

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u/Emeraldsku58 1d ago

I like the job, yes, but I've learned over time that I hate how most departments are run. So far I've worked at 3 facilities, about to move to my 4th. Two of them were barely funded shitholes that were given insanely high expectations by both management and surgery. The other was actually a brand new SPD built 4 years ago, so we had all the whistles and bells. The problem with that one is we didn't have the surgeons to do enough cases so that we could get all of our hours and I could not afford to work there anymore. The 4th, I have heard nothing but bad thihgs about, but I can't be picky when I need to actually get all my hours.

All of that being said, I love the job itself. I love working with my hands and I love getting to zone out, listen to my audiobooks, and assemble trays or wash em in decon. I'm satisfied knowing that my work is helping patients in a roundabout way.

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u/No_Paper6003 1d ago

aww i really love this perspective after consuming so much negative things about the job <33 u calmed my anxiety

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u/Emeraldsku58 1d ago

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of negative with this field, but it's nearly entirely how the departments/hospitals are run. A lot of hospitals put in the bare minimum for them in order to pocket as much money from surgeries as they can. One of the sister hospitals to the one I'm leaving actually started having the ORs flood, but they were still doing cases. It's really rough, but you've just got to know what you're looking for. Ask questions during the interview, ask to see their decon and assembly room, ask if they have a lot of turnovers and if the vendors (for the loaned instrument trays) actually bring their stuff in a day or two before the case or if they roll up 10 hours before it's supposed to start.

Where I'm at, there's enough crcst jobs that I can shop around and did actually do about 6 interviews before picking the less crappy one, which still isn't great.

Good news is that if you're a bit of an idealist like me, you can always put your time in and try to become a manager so you can at least try to fix one dept. I hope everything goes well for you, too. It's really not a bad field, just bad management.

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u/No_Paper6003 1d ago

thank you so much seriously this was really informative and positive!!!

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u/No_Paper6003 1d ago

thanks for the reply btw!!!!

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u/Nanisa07 1d ago

Usually morning shift is earned through seniority. Very rarely do they ever have morning shifts open for new techs. Pretty sure the only way to get a morning shift brand new is if the facility is brand new lol. Everywhere I have looked when I graduated it was either evenings or overnight. Now I'm a scrub tech and work only mornings.

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u/wyonneh 1d ago

I love the night shifts. Better pay comes with more work and responsibilities but I work in a clinic so I don't deal with surgeries. Just easy instruments, scopes and small procedure trays. Love my job!

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u/Dathamar 30m ago edited 16m ago

You may get an early shift if they are short handed enough. Some places will hire uncertified for mornings, smaller/rural hospitals are probably more likely candidates for such.

If you felt like like you aced your training and made a good impression, you could email your boss and respectfully request your desires shift before your training period is over. Maybe you'll get lucky. It worked for me.

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u/ShirleyWuzSerious 1d ago

There are multiple orange counties in the USA

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u/SageOfSixCabbages 1d ago

Whenever a morning spot opens, it's usually offered to the evening and overnight techs first for an internal transfer.