Medical Equipment Preparers
Health ScienceO*NET 31-9093.00United States
Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. May perform routine laboratory tasks and operate or inspect equipment.
- Median annual earnings
- $47,747
- Projected change
- +12.9%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 79.59K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
43.8% of the workforce
Growing to 89.85K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What medical equipment preparers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
- Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
- Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
- Record sterilizer test results.
- Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
- Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff.
- Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.
- Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.
- Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
- Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated.
- Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $35,951
- 25th percentile
- $39,529
- 50th percentile
- $47,747
- 75th percentile
- $59,106
- 90th percentile
- $70,810
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $47,747 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+12.9%faster than average
202579,587 jobs
2035 projected89,847 jobs
10,260 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 43.8%
- Certificate
- 31.2%
- Bachelor's degree
- 15.3%
- Some college
- 4.4%
- Associate degree
- 3.5%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 1.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Sterile Processing Technicians11,097 postings
- 02Travel Sterile Processing Technicians1,342 postings
- 03Sterilization Technicians1,053 postings
- 04Surgical Sterile Processing Technicians981 postings
- 05Central Sterile Technicians880 postings
- 06Sterile Processing Managers725 postings
- 07Central Sterile Processing Technicians646 postings
- 08Sterile Processing Supervisors558 postings
- 09Lead Sterile Processing Technicians371 postings
- 10SPD Technicians302 postings
- 11Sterile Technicians253 postings
- 12Sterile Processors245 postings
- 13Central Service Technicians197 postings
- 14Sterile Processing Coordinators178 postings
- 15Sterile Supply Technicians135 postings
- 16Central Processing Technicians131 postings
- 17Technicians131 postings
- 18Central Sterile Processing Managers119 postings
- 19Processing Technicians110 postings
- 20Sterile Processing Technologists106 postings
Top employers
- 01Aya Healthcare1,287 postings
- 02HCA Healthcare544 postings
- 03Navitas Partners376 postings
- 04AMN Healthcare259 postings
- 05United Surgical Partners International240 postings
- 06Trusted Health228 postings
- 07AdventHealth215 postings
- 08Supplemental Health Care214 postings
- 09Providence186 postings
- 10Accountable Healthcare Staffing185 postings
- 11UCHealth (Colorado)185 postings
- 12Gqr174 postings
- 13Ingenovis Health174 postings
- 14Trinity Health154 postings
- 15Ascension134 postings
- 16University of Pittsburgh Medical Center128 postings
- 17Piedmont Healthcare119 postings
- 18SCA Health118 postings
- 19Amergis115 postings
- 20CHRISTUS Health114 postings
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