Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/824946
54 Executive Briefing Ensuring that disinfectant wipes are available to clean shared patient care equipment and the patient care environment will help improve disinfection compliance and enable the frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces. Engage other stakeholders in the battle against germs. As mentioned earlier, some care activities are more likely than oth- ers to create contamination in the patient care environment. When procedures, such as bed baths and/or changing of incontinence products, are performed, it should be part of the standard proto- col for the clinician to disinfect the surfaces that were potentially soiled during the process or near the patient after the task is com- pleted to help reduce the contamination in the environment. Since a key route of transmission for many pathogens found in the environment is fecal-oral, it may also be prudent to engage staff delivering food trays to patients or residents to help them clean their hands and disinfect the surfaces near the patient, such as the overbed table, prior to the placement of food trays. Determine a team approach to cleaning, including more frequent cleaning of environmental surfaces during the day as needed. • Define roles and responsibilities using tools and check- lists • Clearly communicate and train staff on their roles during implementation • Provide ongoing communication vehicles to continual- ly reinforce • Measure outcomes, communicate feedback, and stay focused toward success Patients and visitors can also play a key role in helping to keep the environment safe. It is critical to educate them on the need to properly clean their hands — including when and how. They are just as likely to move germs around the environment as the healthcare team. Most family members of patients want to help, so take the op- portunity to let them. In fact, encourage them to be part of the solution. Helping them understand that excessive clutter in the room makes cleaning and disinfection more difficult may encourage them to help reduce the clutter. And, if you have disinfectant wipes that are safe for use, you can also invite them to wipe high-touch environmental surfaces, such as bed rails, overbed tables and other items near the patient, such as phones or controls. Use signage and educational materials to help educate on how and when disinfecting surfaces may be valuable. These steps may play a key role in helping to reduce the risk of transmission, and may even help with satisfaction scores, as an added demonstration of your facility's commit- ment to cleanliness and infection prevention. Measure what matters. This one may be the simplest idea, yet the hardest to implement. If hand hygiene compliance is im- portant, measure it. If high-touch surface cleaning compliance is important, measure it. Studies have demonstrated that staff will respond to constructive feedback and increase compliance when consistent measurement data is provided. Feedback and a continual focus on improvement are critical to drive improve- ments in compliance. Added assurance. The healthcare environment is very complex with the combination of sick patients, busy staff, a high level of patient care activity and the ongoing stream of visitors. Because of this, even in the best situations, there is risk. Several studies have demonstrated the persistent contamina- tion of environmental surfaces despite the use of traditional cleaning and disinfection methods. This has led to widespread acceptance that there is a need to address traditional cleaning processes as well as the need to assess the use of secondary disinfectant technologies. Based on this, many facilities are now looking at no-touch disin- fection systems, such as ultraviolet-C devices, to augment their manual cleaning processes. These systems have demonstrated the ability to be highly effective against vegetative pathogens and spores. It should be noted that these adjunct technologies are not a substitute for manual cleaning and disinfection, but instead are being used in addition. The use of the combined systems — manual cleaning plus no-touch disinfection — has been shown to reduce the environmental bio-burden, reduce HAIs and help to address the inadequacies and inconsistencies in manual cleaning processes and implementation. Every Moment Counts Preventing infections requires a multi-modal approach, en- gagement of numerous stakeholders and the commitment to provide a safe and satisfying environment of care. References 1 Duckro AN, et al. Transfer of vancomycin-resistant enterococci via health care worker hands. Arch Intern Med. 2005 Feb 14; 165(3):302–307. 2 Weinstein RA. Epidemiology and control of nosocomial infections in adult intensive care units. Am J Med 1991; 9 (suppl 3B): S179-S184. 3 Otter, "Evidence that contaminated surfaces contribute to the transmis- sion of hospital pathogens and an overview of strategies to address contam- inated surfaces in hospital settings". American Journal of Infection Control, 2013; 41: S6-S11. 4 Havill NL. Havill HL, Mangione E, Eumigan D, Boyce JM. Cleanliness of portable medical equipment disinfected by nursing staff. Am J Infect Control 2011;39:602-4. 5 Huslage K, Rutala WA, Sickbert-Bennett E, Weber DJ, "A quantitative ap- proach to defining high touch surfaces in hospitals", Infect Cont and Hosp Epidemiol, 2010; 31 (8): 850-853. 6 Lei et al. "Exploring surface cleaning strategies in hospital to prevent con- tact transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus", BMC Infectious Diseases (2017) 17:85 DOI 10.1186/s12879-016-2120-z n Diversey is world leader in cleaning and hygiene solutions offering expertise in infection prevention with the integration of cleaning and disinfectant solutions, dosing and dispensing technologies, and training and consulting services. Diversey solutions include products, procedures, training and support, as well as cleaning compliance validation systems in total facility care and infection prevention. Our leading disinfectant lines have proven results in satisfaction and reduction of transmission, as we work with customers to assess their facilities, practices, infection prevention needs, and develop best practices for consistent results, and helping them implement positive change. Diversey can help you achieve your goals.