Year in Review: Environmental Hygiene

Despite their protective role, gloves are often misused in health care settings—undermining hand hygiene, risking patient safety, and worsening environmental impact. Alexandra Peters, PhD, points out that this misuse deserves urgent attention, especially today, World Hand Hygiene Day.

Training EVS workers for hygiene excellence demands more than manuals—it requires active engagement, motor skills coaching, and teach-back techniques to reduce HAIs and improve patient outcomes.

Health care-associated infections are driving a shift toward disposable microfiber cloths, mop pads, and curtains—offering infection prevention, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency in one-time-use solutions.

Reducing surgical site infections goes beyond sterile technique—factors like OR traffic, PPE, and workflow interruptions significantly impact infection risk and patient outcomes.

Veterinary IPs highlight critical gaps in cleaning protocols, training, and biosecurity, stressing the urgent need for standardized, animal-specific infection prevention practices across diverse care settings.

With health care systems under strain and infection preventionists being laid off nationwide, a little-known federal agency stands as a last line of defense against preventable patient harm. Yet the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is now facing devastating cuts—threatening decades of progress in patient safety.