Who is responsible for cleaning electronic patient-care equipment at the bedside , nursing personnel or environmental services personnel ?
Introducing IP & C Conundrums , the forum where tough questions related to infection prevention and control are discussed and debated to identify solutions . Each month , we ’ ll pose a question for members of the IP & C community to consider , and we ’ ll share the dialogue in every issue of Healthcare Hygiene magazine .
We posed the following question to readers : Who is responsible for cleaning electronic patient-care equipment at the bedside , nursing personnel or environmental services personnel ? And then we asked them to explain why they believe their response is the right one .
• Nursing personnel . It ’ s the nurse ’ s job to protect the patient . — Kathie Nettesheim , EVM
• Nursing personnel . I believe that if you used it or touch it , you disinfect it ! Also , most environmental services techs will not touch something that beeps ! We discussed this to a point in our paper ( https :// www . jointcommissionjournal . com / article / S1553-7250 ( 19 ) 30481-7 / fulltext ).
— Jim Gauthier , Jim Gauthier Consultants
• Nursing personnel . I think that nursing should take responsibility here . It is a quick process of using a disinfecting wipe to sanitize all the surfaces that nursing would touch during their treatment of the patient . It will also familiarize each nurse with those high-touch areas that require hand hygiene when transitioning to patient contact .
— Robert Lee , THE IPEX - The Infection Prevention Exchange
Background : The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) states that every facility should develop cleaning schedules , including identifying the person responsible , the frequency , the method ( product , process ), as well as detailed SOPs for environmental cleaning of surfaces and noncritical equipment in every type of patient-care area .
The CDC also emphasizes that there are some specialized areas of the hospital that require specific personnel to conduct cleaning : “ Because operating rooms are highly specialized areas , the surgery department clinical staff usually manages environmental cleaning . Operating room nurses and their assistants sometimes perform cleaning duties along with , or sometimes instead of , general cleaning staff . Critical and semi-critical equipment in the operating rooms require specialized reprocessing procedures and are never the responsibility of environmental cleaning staff .”
The California Department of Public Health ( CDPH ) notes on its website that “ Everyone is responsible for the cleanliness of the care environment . It is recommended to keep an updated checklist of who cleans what in your policy .” The CDPH suggests a checklist for assigning cleaning responsibilities among staff . This tool may also be used as an assessment or teaching tool to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement . The agency advises asking at least four staff members with
different titles to list who cleans each item . Compare responses to your facility ’ s policy and look for areas where it is unclear who cleans certain items or if there is a mismatch among respondents . Use the results from this exercise to remind and reeducate staff on the importance of environmental cleaning . Example respondents include infection preventionists , environmental services managers and technicians , nurses , and other allied staff such as respiratory therapists .
At 2019 ’ s APIC annual meeting , Caroline Haggerty , RN , MSN , MBA , LSSBB , presented a talk titled , “ Who Cleans What ? Improving Cleanliness of the Hospital Environment ,” in which she shared how her 700-bed hospital within the University of Pennsylvania Health System created a multidisciplinary-shared accountability model – called the “ Who Cleans What ” plan -- for cleaning the patient environment and equipment . Haggerty addressed the steps they undertook to ensure environments and equipment were clean , staff could speak to the cleaning process , and overall cleanliness was improved . The health system team reported that it accomplished several key objectives through the pilot study , including addressing cleaning and disinfecting in a standard , visible and structured way ; reducing the chance of transmission of infections ; being consistently ready for surveys , and reaching the level of a high-reliability organization in healthcare .
THE QUESTION FOR MARCH ’ S
COLUMN IS :
Should home laundering of scrubs be allowed : why or why not ?
To Join the conversation click here
february 2024 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com •
21