If you ask the patients at your hospital to identify the most impactful workers in the building, you’ll probably hear some great feedback about your frontline staff. Doctors, nurses, surgeons and specialist are just a few examples. The roles that often get overlooked are those whose job it is to keep the facility clean – infection prevention experts.
Infection prevention experts are impactful on so many levels. They help to limit infections by providing education to staff, create policies and procedures that prevent infection and make purchasing recommendations for products and equipment that can improve their current procedures. With this being said many people still wonder why infection prevention is so important to a place like a hospital.
Healthcare associated infection are one of the biggest threats to a patient in a healthcare facility. HAIs are infections people get while they are receiving health care for another condition. According to the Centers for Disease Control(CDC), there were an estimated 687,000 HAIs in U.S. acute care hospitals in 2015. About 72,000 hospital patients with HAIs died during their hospitalizations. Not only is ineffective infection control extremely dangerous to patients, staff and visitors it also can completely destroy the reputation of any business.
Although this seems like some scary news, there are steps you can take to reduce HAIs and make your facility a safer place. Finding effective products and making sure they are used correctly is a huge first step. Products such as those in the SSS Alliance Disinfection System have been shown to reduce the spread of illness, bacteria and viruses that cause HAIs. This includes Norovirus, Influenza A, E. coli, HIV, Strep and much more. Additionally, creating a solid cleaning regimen and making sure everyone follows it can ensure no knowledge slip ups amongst staff.
Contact us if you want to learn more about infection prevention as well as what products are right for your specific needs.
