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The Time Spent Cleaning a Hospital Room Does Not Correlate with the Thoroughness of Cleaning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Mark E. Rupp ,
Ann Adler ,
Margaret Schellen ,
Kyle Cassling ,
Teresa Fitzgerald ,
Lee Sholtz ,
Elizabeth Lyden  and
Philip Carling
Mark E. Rupp*
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Ann Adler
Affiliation:
Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Margaret Schellen
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Kyle Cassling
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Teresa Fitzgerald
Affiliation:
Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Lee Sholtz
Affiliation:
Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Elizabeth Lyden
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Philip Carling
Affiliation:
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
*
984031 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198 (merupp@unmc.edu)
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Extract

Environmental surfaces in hospital rooms often become contaminated with microbes, and evidence has linked the patient care environment to transmission of potential pathogens. Despite attempts at standardization of training and cleaning techniques, there is great variation between housekeepers with regard to room cleaning practices. Environmental cleanliness can be assessed by direct observation, surface cultures, detection of adenosine triphosphate, or use of a fluorescent marking solution. Each monitoring technique has limitations.

We participated in a multicenter study that demonstrated improved cleaning of high-touch surfaces through the use of a fluorescent marking solution and rapid-cycle performance feedback. As part of an earlier study, housekeepers were instructed about the importance of environmental cleanliness and appropriate cleaning of high-touch surfaces, and a room cleaning checklist was introduced. In this study, we sought to examine the relationship between the amount of time that a housekeeper spent cleaning a hospital room and the thoroughness of surface cleaning.

Type
Research Briefs
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 100 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2013

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