Two Ways to Accelerate Daily and Terminal Cleaning of Patient Rooms
Employees at health care facilities are responsible for many different tasks, but their primary focus is maintaining a clean and safe environment for patients and visitors. However, due to high foot traffic and constant activity, daily and terminal cleaning of patient rooms can be challenging. As a result, it’s important to help streamline the process by prioritizing staff training and building a cleaning program that leverages efficient products.
1. Prioritizing Staff Training
When it comes to effective patient room cleaning, training should be paramount for not only environmental service (EVS) personnel, but for all staff involved in patient room cleaning.
To ensure the cleaning and disinfection process removes pathogens from surfaces and equipment where patients receive care, EVS personnel should receive proper training and education on patient room cleaning and disinfecting protocols¹. This training should not only include an in-depth discussion of the processes involved, but also training on the products that are being used.
Once staff has been trained, it’s crucial to monitor patient rooms and staff processes to ensure proper protocol is being followed.²
2. Optimizing Process with the Right Products
Due to the time sensitivity of terminal and daily patient room cleaning, finding ways to complete the process in a safe and efficient manner is crucial.
Faster Dusting
Utilizing products that last longer and pick up debris more effectively is key to streamlining daily dusting tasks. Dusting is a crucial step in patient room cleaning.
Efficient Disinfection
Disinfection is the reason you clean patient rooms in the first place. However, eliminating pathogens can be a long process as products are required to remain on a surface for a pre-determined amount of time to effectively kill present pathogens. Fortunately, 3M formulates disinfectants with shorter dwell times, so you can get patient rooms up and running faster. Specifically, 3M™ C. diff Solution Tablets are EPA registered and kill C. diff spores in just four minutes.
Efficient, Patient-Friendly Floor Cleaning
If the patient is present during the cleaning process, cleaning staff are essentially performing work in front of a customer. Not only should staff act accordingly, but there are certain products that may be preferable. 3M™ All Purpose Cleaner, for instance, is less odorous and less intrusive for the patient experience when cleaning patient room floors.
Doing More with Less
There are growing pressures to complete cleaning and disinfection procedures faster, safer and at lower costs.
Whether it’s disinfectants with shorter dwell times or dust sheets that trap more debris, an effective cleaning routine will not only streamline daily tasks, but ensure that both patients and visitors will have peace of mind regarding the care they receive.
For more information about daily and terminal patient cleaning or any facility care challenge, contact a 3M sales representative.
