or $3,400 for every $10,000 they make.
Let’s look at the math as it applies to
a hypothetical EVS department with 50
frontline workers averaging $30,000 an-
nually: 34 percent of $30,000 = $10,200
Using the Achievers data (which states
that only 21 percent of employees are
engaged), we can calculate that around
29 of those 50 employees are disengaged
and complacent in their work.
That means that employee compla-
cency cost your department $295,800
(29x$10,200) out of a labor budget
of $1.5 million If 90 percent of your
staff were fully engaged, the cost of
complacency drops to just $51,000 for
a savings of $244,800.
But much greater than the financial
impact of complacency in the EVS
department is the cost in human lives. The
stakes are too high to allow the rooms
of residents or patients to be cleaned by
a person who is not properly educated
and engaged. The EVS professional must
be properly compensated, regarded as a
part of the facility’s multi-modal infection
prevention program, be well trained in
the nuances of cleaning and disinfection,
allotted the time to do the necessary
tasks, equipped with the best-in-class
tools to clean and disinfect surfaces
and educated about the prevention and
transmission of disease.
chosen and respected by those they work
alongside of. In short, a fully engaged
cleaning professional.
A closing thought: One well-trained,
well-equipped, engaged certified
environmental services technician, given
the proper tools and an adequate amount
of time to clean and disinfect a patient’s
room can prevent more infections than
a room full of doctors can cure.
J. Darrel Hicks, BA, MREH, CHESP, is
the owner/principal of Darrel Hicks, LLC
and the author of the book Infection
Prevention for Dummies. He is also a
board member and acting president of
the Healthcare Surfaces Institute.
References:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Hospital Utilization (in non-Federal short
stay hospitals), Hospital Inpatient Care-Number of
Discharges; Procedures Performed, May 14, 2015;
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hospital.htm
2. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ). Healthcare-Associated Infections Greatly
Increase the Cost of Hospital Stays. AHRQ News
and Numbers, August 25, 2010;
http://archive.ahrq.gov/news/newsroom/news-
and-numbers/082510.html
The Learning Objectives for
Certifying your Cleaning Professionals
(CPs)
• Define infection prevention as
environmental services’ No. 1 job
• Equip the front-line cleaning
professional (CP) with knowledge
of infection prevention as it relates
to their daily tasks
• Analyze the CP’s role in patient
satisfaction
• Support the CP with practical
“how to” tips for cleaning and
disinfecting
• Introduce cleaning and disinfect-
ing strategies that effectively break
the chain of infection
• Convert the CP into a certified
environmental services technician
An educated, engaged and certified
EVS tech will be viewed as a knowledge-
able professional working amongst other
healthcare professionals who are certified
or registered in their field. Knowledge
leads the environmental services worker
to be proud of the profession they have
www.healthcarehygienemagazine.com • april 2020
43