Autoclave Nurse — Sterilization Nurse

The Afghan Red Crescent Society, founded in 1934, is an independent and humanitarian organization recognized by the Afghan government as a charitable and impartial institution for government agencies. The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) plays a significant role in providing voluntary services and humanitarian assistance. According to the law and the statutes, the National Society conducts its activities in accordance with its seven principles: philanthropy, impartiality, independence, voluntary service, unity and inclusiveness. Among other things, the National Society is tasked with assisting affected communities, providing emergency shelter and distributing relief items to vulnerable people. Through a network of 7 regional zones and 34 provincial offices, with over 20,000 trained staff and volunteers, the ARCS works in partnership with national and international organizations at the country level to alleviate humanitarian suffering. Over the past decades, the ARCS has managed to maintain its impartiality and enjoys a reputation that enables its teams to carry out principled humanitarian actions across conflict lines, including in large parts of areas controlled by armed opposition groups. The ARCS, with the support of its partners, Such as the respected office of the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Navarre Red Cross, the Qatar Red Crescent and other partners.

Ensure safe, validated, and timely sterilization and cleaning of surgical instruments, consumables, and sterile sets for the cardiac operating room, intensive care unit, and inpatient setting; manage autoclave operations, implement sterile quality assurance, train sterile service personnel, and maintain a sterile supplies tracking system.

Key Responsibilities

1. Operate and verify sterile equipment : Operate steam autoclaves (gravity and pre-vacuum) and, if necessary, ethylene oxide machines according to manufacturer’s instructions and hospital standards; perform routine periodic tests such as Bowie’s Dike, chemical and biological indicators and record results.
2. Sterile service workflow management : Receiving contaminated instruments, monitoring cleaning and decontamination, instrument inspection and performance testing, proper arrangement of loads and packaging, running the sterile cycle, ensuring proper drying, and dispatching sterile sets on time.
3. Completeness of Tracking and Documentation : Maintain complete tracking and documentation for all shipments, devices and implants; cycle logs, serial/batch records of implants, maintenance logs and archived documents for inspections and incidents.
4. Implement infection prevention and occupational safety : Use of appropriate personal protective equipment in CSSD, waste segregation, safe use of chemicals, hepatitis B vaccine compliance, and prevention of reprocessing errors (such as wet packaging or bag tipping).
5. Cycle speed and inventory management : Prioritizing to meet schedules and urgent operations lists; inventory management of sterile supplies and consumables, monitoring expiration dates and recommending reorders and appropriate storage.
6. Preventive Maintenance Coordination : Coordinate preventive maintenance, service contracts, and emergency repairs with biomedical engineering and suppliers; mark or remove unsafe equipment, and maintain maintenance and spare parts records.
7. Training and competency assessment : Training, supervision, and competency assessment of sterile service personnel and operating room personnel in packaging, load sorting, indicators, sterile storage, and safe workflows; maintaining training and competency records.
8. Initial technical troubleshooting and reporting : Test initial autoclave problems such as controls, seals, and interlocks and escalate complex failures with a documented error report; implement corrective and preventive actions following failures.
9. Sterility and Infection Control Audits and Quality Activities : Lead and participate in sterility and infection prevention audits, root cause analyses, mortality and morbidity reviews, and quality improvement activities; prepare and follow up on corrective action plans.
10. Technical advice and documentation language : Provide technical advice on procurement of autoclaves, consumables, pouches/covers, indicators and tray liners; maintain sterile service documentation in English and maintain clear communication with the operating room/ICU in local languages.

Required qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse (RN) and valid nursing license/registration in Afghanistan, or Sterile Services/Central Sterile Services Technician Certificate.
• Certification or training in infection prevention and control or sterile services management.

Preferred

• Additional technical certification in autoclave operation, sterile validation, or basic biomedical equipment training.
• Familiarity with cardiac surgery instrument sets and implant handling.

Minimum experience

• Minimum 2–4 years of clinical or sterile services experience in tertiary hospitals; minimum 12 months of direct experience operating autoclaves/sterilizers and managing sterile services workflow in a surgical environment is strongly preferred.

Experience working with cardiac surgical instrument sets, implants, or complex instrument trays is an advantage

To register for the above-mentioned position, please send all your educational documents in a single PDF file, including (CV, educational documents, work experience documents, and ID card), to the following email address:

hr@arcs.af