Environmental Services

This report addresses the process by which sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in commercial bleach products, destroys disease-causing pathogens. It explains the science of how and why bleach is an effective disinfection agent, and presents information to address common misconceptions about bleach.

It’s usually the small things that are overlooked, emphasizes John Lowe, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Lowe’s facility was among a handful in the United States that treated patients infected with Ebola virus in 2014. Healthcare systems such as UNMC and Emory University Hospital in Atlanta have well-established biocontainment units and expert staff that helped stop the spread of the deadly pandemic pathogen.

Last year, the U.S. witnessed its first case of the Ebola virus disease (EVD). As healthcare workers and civilian volunteers returned from West Africa to the U.S., questions surrounding how to evaluate and address EVD-related risks quickly came into focus-ranging from public health exposure to clinical practices inside hospitals.

Robots are capable of all sorts of tasks to help better treat cancer: They connect oncologists to patients remotely, make incisions, staple them shut, deliver "nano" therapies--and they clean rooms. New research from Penn Medicine infection control specialists found that ultraviolet (UV) robots helped reduce the rates transmission of the common bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile among cancer inpatients - mostly blood cancer patients, a group more vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections - by 25 percent. The interventions also saved about $150,000 in annual direct medical costs.

aureus (MRSA) that loiter on surfaces even after patient rooms have been cleaned and can cause new, sometimes-deadly infections. But a new study from Duke Medicine has found that using a combination of chemicals and UV light to clean patient rooms cut transmission of four major superbugs by a cumulative 30 percent among a specific group of patients -- those who stay overnight in a room where someone with a known positive culture or infection of a drug-resistant organism had previously been treated.

This Pulse summarizes best practices associated with environmental cleaning and surface disinfection in the ambulatory-care environment. It highlights basic infection prevention recommendations for outpatient settings, and reaffirms Standard Precautions as the foundation for preventing transmission of infectious agents during patient care in all healthcare settings.

As drug-resistant strains of bacteria and viruses continue to arise, St. Mary’s Health Care System in Athens, Ga. is taking an innovative step to help protect patients from infection: the Athens hospital is the first in Northeast Georgia to use powerful ultraviolet radiation to treat surgical suites, isolation rooms and other areas of the hospital.

Environmental hygiene, at its best, follows a prescribed set of steps in an evidence-based protocol, and guided by best-practice recommendations. Deviate from this protocol, or worse yet, cut corners, and patient outcomes can be jeopardized. As hospitals respond to the call to do more with less, the expediency with which patient rooms are turned over is increasing, leading some experts to sound the alarm about compromising patient safety.

Environmental services professionals play a crucial role in helping to prevent the spread of infections in patients, and to boost their ongoing education and training, the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) is introducing a new certification program for these frontline technicians that will enhance their competencies. The Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Technician (CHEST) credential ensures that the cleaning practices in hospitals and other healthcare environments are superior and directly corre-late to help make a positive impact on infection rates, costs, quality of care, patient experience and outcomes.