Environmental Services

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. 

Hospital environmental services (EVS) workers want to do the best job they can to keep healthcare facilities clean and ultimately protect patients from harm. But often there is a lack of understanding of proper hand hygiene protocol-and an accompanying lack of training.

Clorox Healthcare and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) announce a new partnership to educate the healthcare community on comprehensive infection control practices to help reduce the spread of infection in healthcare facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that drug-resistant bacteria cause two million illnesses and approximately 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Mathematical modeling included in its latest Vital Signs report shows that the spread of drug-resistant infections and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) will increase without immediate improvements in infection control and antibiotic prescribing. The report also states that if improved infection control practices and antibiotic stewardship efforts were adopted nationally, 619,000 infections and 37,000 deaths could be prevented over five years.

The traditional towel-and-bucket method of environmental cleaning is being replaced in many hospitals by ready-to-use disinfectant wipes. These pre-soaked disposable wipes are increasingly used for the disinfection of near-patient surfaces to prevent the spread of microorganisms and the emergence of nosocomial infections. This report explores the benefits of ready-to-use wipes as well as reviews the key factors that impact wipes' efficacy.