Experts Issue Reminders on Proper Usage of Wipes to Reduce Cross-Contamination

“Clinicians and environmental services personnel need to be constantly reminded that patient-care equipment and medical devices as well as environmental surfaces can serve as reservoirs for pathogenic microorganisms,” says Jean Fleming, RN, MPM, CIC, clinical director infection prevention and education for Professional Disposables International, Inc. “Today we are a consumer-driven society and healthcare facilities serve the consumer. The public is very much aware about disease transmission, especially with increasing media reports of infection transmission within healthcare environments. The consumer, along with expectations from healthcare regulatory agencies, is looking at the environment. Therefore, creating and maintaining a safe care environment is critical. Pathogenic microorganisms may survive from hours to days to weeks if proper cleaning and disinfection is not performed.”

Valerie Williamson, a category manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional, says it is essential that HCWs understand the factors impacting the number and types of microorganisms present on environmental surfaces, including number of people in the environment, amount of activity, amount of moisture (though microorganisms are present in great numbers in moist organic environments, some can also persist under dry conditions), presence of material capable of supporting microbial growth, the rate at which organisms suspended in air are removed, and the type of surface and its orientation (horizontal vs. vertical).

“Health experts are looking at contaminated surfaces in healthcare facilities as a possible mode of transmission for multiple drug-resistant bacteria,” Williamson explains. “Common germs like Staph can live up to three weeks on a dry surface. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) can live up to four months. Clostridium difficile is another hardy germ that can survive in the hospital environment. The CDC is clear in its recommendations that cleaning and disinfecting environmental surfaces in healthcare facilities is critical to reducing the contribution of those surfaces to the incidence of healthcare-associated infections. In addition to proper hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting can help to minimize the transfer of microorganisms that can occur via hand contact between contaminated surfaces and patients.”