Anyone who has ever cleaned a hospital knows that the methodology differs from other industries. And when it comes to keeping healthcare facilities clean, a professional cleaning service specializing in healthcare facilities can save you a lot of headaches by ensuring a clean and safe environment for your guests and staff. To learn more, read on to discover four benefits of hospital cleaning services.
Or, if you’re looking for a reliable hospital cleaning service with a proven track record of success, look no further than 360clean. Our team of experts understands the meticulous nature of cleaning medical facilities and will put our knowledge to work to ensure that your facility remains in ideal condition.
#1 Put Your Best Foot Forward
In the healthcare industry, it’s imperative to maintain a clean image. A rigorous and consistent cleaning schedule will help your facility maintain a professional, welcoming, and comforting environment that will put your staff and patients more at ease.
A quality hospital cleaning service will make sure that all the rooms in your facility stay in immaculate condition, including the following spaces:
- Examination rooms
- Reception areas
- Waiting areas
- Restrooms
By putting your best foot forward at all times, you are sending a crucial message to your employees, patients, and visitors: Their health and safety are of the utmost importance, and patients here are in good hands.
#2 Improve the Health Standards Across Your Company
An experienced hospital cleaning service will understand the stringent cleanliness standards that apply to hospitals and other medical facilities. For example, the cleaners will know the techniques and equipment for reducing bacteria, dust, pollen, and mold. By implementing a rigorous standard of cleanliness, you will put patient safety at the forefront of your concerns. Over time, this will become standard practice that is not expected but demanded from everyone employed by your facility.
Remember, once these standards have become the baseline, maintaining these high standards for cleanliness will become more automated for everyone in your facility.
#3 Say Goodbye to Cross-Contamination
No matter what kind of hospital you work in, cross-contamination can pose a severe problem without proper precautions.
Cross-contamination in health care is when viruses and bacteria transfer from one place to another. For example, if employees don’t wash their hands after using the restroom, they will spread all the bacteria on their hands to other places throughout the facility. It can also happen if an employee handles contaminated equipment and doesn’t wash their hands afterward.
This is mainly why medical personnel should maintain rigorous standards of cleanliness and keep their facilities disinfected at all times. To prevent cross-contamination, your hospital cleaning service and staff must thoroughly and consistently clean daily.
#4 Prevent Bloodborne Pathogen Contamination
Bloodborne pathogens are a significant cause of concern in any hospital or medical facility. Getting infected by one of these viruses can be severe and life-changing. Examples of well-known bloodborne pathogens include the following:
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Brucellosis
- Syphilis
- Malaria
OSHA has strict standards to protect healthcare workers and other personnel who consistently work with human blood. And one of the most important directives in this plan is to maintain clean and disinfected surfaces throughout your facility. Your employees and patients could be exposed to bloodborne pathogens in various ways. Here are some of them:
- Using recycled PPE
- Improper hand hygiene
- Handling contaminated laundry
- Eating or drinking in a contaminated area
When you hire a professional hospital cleaning service, they will have a solid plan to protect themselves from bloodborne pathogens. However, you will still need to take steps to implement a protocol that will minimize the instances where bloodborne pathogens could potentially be transmitted and keep your employees and patients safe.
What to Look for in a Hospital Cleaning Service
Quality Disinfectants
If you’re cleaning your facility with a disinfectant you purchased at the grocery store, you could be putting people at risk. A professional hospital cleaning service will know precisely what disinfectants to bring for the job. In this regard, the best hospital disinfectants are EPA-approved and kill 99% of germs on contact.
These quality disinfectants are advantageous because you won’t need to let the liquid settle on the floor or some other precarious place while it does its work. Even better, nowadays, many disinfectants are environmentally friendly. Of course, a good cleaning service will always factor in the importance of green cleaning and promote environmental health in addition to the health of your patients and personnel. At 360clean, green cleaning is always available to our clients upon request!
Attention to Detail
When it comes to maintaining a clean hospital, there are no half-measures. Even the slightest misstep can have disastrous consequences. As such, you want a cleaning service with the training to pay attention to every detail. In a hospital setting, there are a few key areas that require keen attention to detail:
- Tablets
- Phones
- Furniture
- Bed rails
- Remotes
- Tabletops
- Trash cans
- HVAC units
- High-contact surfaces
Plenty of spaces need attention, so you will want attentive cleaners trained to take the initiative and make intelligent decisions that will lessen that burden for your nurses, doctors, and other essential staff.
Proper Precautions
Precautions are necessary before cleaning begins. That means the crew needs to be equipped with proper personal protective equipment (PPE), including the following:
- Masks
- Gloves
- Goggles
- Hair ties
- Shoe covers
Additionally, suppose your commercial cleaning staff is removing hazardous waste. In that case, always ask rather than assume your cleaners have proper OSHA training. With the right commercial cleaning service on your team, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your cleaning staff has appropriate training in disposing hazardous materials following state and federal law.
Knowledge of Best Practices
To prevent cross-contamination, cleaners must dispose of any perishable rags and cloths after cleaning one area and moving on to another. In addition, your cleaners will need to understand how to remove their gloves, so they don’t come into contact with dangerous pathogens or cleaning chemicals. The benefit of hiring a professional hospital cleaning service is that many employees already know how to adhere to these best practices.
Rigorous & Consistent Standards
Many professional cleaning services require their cleaners to maintain a comprehensive checklist to ensure that all client needs are consistently met. It would be best if you also asked to keep one of these checklists to evaluate the quality of the cleaning service’s work. Even if you are an experienced professional, a checklist serves as a reminder for those easily forgotten places—like between the cushions—after a stressful day.
In addition to keeping a physical checklist, you can consider using one of several software programs designed to help keep your tasks in order. Smartphones are also convenient in this regard. No matter what you use to maintain your checklist, having a sound failsafe in place will make you thankful to have implemented such a system.
Tips for Hospital Cleaning
Just Because It Looks Clean Doesn’t Mean It Is
Every room in your facility needs regular disinfection. Even non-patient areas, such as back rooms, locker rooms, and nurse’s stations, need regular cleanings. When cleaning, it is essential to wipe down and disinfect every surface, as these are where viruses and bacteria are most likely to congregate.
Put an Emphasis on Workplace Hygiene
Implementing strict requirements for workplace hygiene will help you prevent cross-contamination that could originate from your employees. To do this, set the expectation that all employees must regularly wash their hands, primarily if they consistently work with patients.
In addition to mandating regular handwashing, you can install hand sanitizer dispensers throughout your facility so employees and patients can disinfect their hands whenever possible. However, it is essential to note that hand sanitizer is not a substitute for good hand washing. Your employees should use sanitizer if they’re in a pinch, but then wash their hands with antibacterial soap and warm water as soon as possible.
Have the Right Products Readily Available for Your Staff
Using EPA-approved hospital-grade disinfectants is beneficial for your facility and the environment. These disinfectants are ideal for stopping germs in their tracks when paired with microfiber cloths. While your commercial cleaning crew will take care of most of the cleaning, if they aren’t on staff 24/7, you’ll want to have these products available to your employees in an emergency.
Regular Deep Cleanings Are Essential
To maintain a safe and healthy facility, you should schedule regular deep cleanings as often as possible. If you can do so every day, great. If not, try to schedule a deep cleaning at least twice weekly. If you opt for the latter, make sure that you factor contingency into the equation, so you are prepared for deep cleaning in the event an emergency occurs. Failing to do so could result in cross-contamination.
Get the Help You Need with 360clean
We hope you enjoyed this blog on the benefits of hospital cleaning services! Taking on this task alone can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be when you have the proper support at hand. Here at 360clean, we take pride in our proven JaniMed® Cleaning System. This in-depth cleaning system consists of specialized training, hospital-grade disinfectants, touch surface disinfection, and state-of-the-art equipment, including micro-fiber technology and Hepa Vacuums with four levels of filtration. The best part is that we can often implement our JaniMed® system at the same price or even less than your current commercial cleaning service.
At 360clean, we aim to facilitate a painless cleaning process that keeps facilities pristine while promoting employees’ and patrons’ health and safety. To learn more, contact us today for a free quote. Thanks for visiting our blog, and we hope to help you soon!