Sanitation and sterilization is critically important in hospital environments. We’ve known this for many years, but new studies in the past few years led to a lot more talk about handwashing and disinfection of surfaces and tools, and more mandatory guidelines on keeping germs out of clinical areas.
However, there are still some really routine situations where disinfecting goes by the wayside. Here are some of those tricky items that you always have to think about in terms of disinfecting areas and keeping clinical spaces clean.
Cell Phones
In many hospitals, this is the number-one offender. Nurses, techs, doctors and everyone else may take excellent care of washing their hands and keeping spaces clean, but they’re still responding to those calls or texts on a mobile device. They reach into their pockets instinctively, and scroll, and routinely transport germs onto or off of the device screen or the sides or back of the device. So a critical part of comprehensive sanitation has to do with making sure your cell phones aren’t a hotbed of germ and bacterial activity, and that means disinfecting them effectively.
ID Badges
ID badges can be another source of hidden contamination. This is especially true when you don’t just wear your badge, but also use it for building access. If you are going around swiping your badge to get in and out of clinical areas, contamination can occur every time you swipe. You’ll need to think about how the physical use of an ID badge affects its cleanliness.
Doorknobs
Doorknobs are another source of contamination. That’s why modern hospitals have a lot of high-design door handles and access controls like vertical or horizontal handles that don’t need to be grasped with the entire hand. Or you might have crash bars, or even loose swinging doors that you can push with your shoulders. But when you have conventional doorknobs or even handles, you need to keep those clean as well.
The Sink
Lots of clinical areas have sinks or washing facilities. Here again, manufacturers have made great progress in eliminating the faucets where germs and bacteria so often build up. Nowadays, you have hands-free faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers in a lot of bathrooms. This isn’t just in clinical areas – they’re in retail spaces and other business areas as well. This has really cut down on germ and bacterial contamination and improved health and safety outcomes, but there’s still a long way to go, and paying attention to sink and washing up spaces is important.
Light Switches
Want some light on in here? Light switches can be one of the most innocuous and innocent places that you experience contamination. Here again, newer switches are made so that you can turn lights on and off without getting your grubby fingers on them. Still, think about the light switches in a clinical facility as places for disinfecting.
These are some of the hidden places where germs, viruses and harmful bacteria can develop. Think about a comprehensive plan for sanitizing and disinfecting these items and keeping everyone healthy at your hospital or facility.
For more, take a look at the BOS Medical blog. We offer recruiting and staffing services in the healthcare industry, around the Athens and Gainesville areas. We provide companies and workers with a lot of assistance and counsel to help promote career success. Contact our team of skilled recruiters today for additional support.
