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Clean facilities do not happen haphazardly
They are the inevitable result of effective program management: the management of
chemicals, the management of tools, and the management of personnel |
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October 30, 2012 by Pike Systems
Hello Everyone! Howard and I are currently at the Illinois APIC HAI Conference and have been getting amazing feedback on the Sanotracin from Infection Control. I wanted to share with you some of the comments. IC comments are below as well as general observations.
- “You will do well (with this product). The timing couldn’t be better” – IC Director
- “We tried Dispatch and Virasept – the damage to the surfaces wasn’t worth it; the Virasept had too strong of a odor.”
- “We need this product; How do we order?”
- We had numerous people SMELL the Sanotracin and received no negative feedback. Some of the people put their noses right in the bottle. As soon as you tell them that there is peracetic acid – they know what it smells like. They currently use peracetic acid now for instrument cleaning.
- Safe for use on LCD screens was huge! – They don’t have a product for this right now.
- We hadlots of inqueries about the wipes – many are looking for a wipe, especially home healthcare. Wipes are coming in November!!
- 90% of people hadn’t heard of Sanotracin yet and the newness made this show even more fun.
Category: Cleaning for Health Tags: C-Diff, HAI, Infection Control, sanotracin, sss sanotracin, sss sanotracin RTU | Comments Off
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October 26, 2012 by Pike Systems
By definition, quality control is a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. Given this, if you had time, you could conduct quality control checks by watching a housekeeper clean, by using monitoring devices such as an ATP meter or ultraviolet marker, by monitoring supply consumption, etc. Cleaning quality will improve through added educational opportunities for staff, better accountability of staff, and open dialogue with cleaning personnel. The key is to get started and set the goal of making progress each week or each month.
Just because a surface looks clean, doesn’t mean that it is. In some instances, visual inspection may be helpful as a baseline but not as a reliable form of quality control for infection prevention. In addition, visual inspection is impossible to standardize. What I think looks clean, a colleague may feel is substandard. It is important to keep in mind that our goal is not cleaning for appearance; it’s cleaning for health.
For more information, go to www.fightcdiff.com and click on training.
Category: Cleaning Budget, Cleaning for Health Tags: ATP Meter, healthcare, program, Quality Control, Ultraviolet Marker, www.fightcdiff.com | Comments Off
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October 25, 2012 by Pike Systems
To get the maximum risk management benefit, housekeepers need to understand that each day they’re going into battle and that their role is critically important and necessary. They are performing tasks that “break the chain” of infection and could impact whether or not a patient contracts an HAI during their stay.
There is a strong link between HAI’s (Healthcare Acquired Infections) and surface disinfection. For this reason, healthcare facilities are placing increased emphasis on proper disinfection. Quality Control efforts have become more sophisticated and more consistent increasing availability of data and the accountability of the housekeeping department. Instead of wondering if an area was properly disinfected, hospital personnel can test surfaces to verify cleaning compliance. This link has elevated the professionalism of the housekeeper while at the same time forcing them to become more sophisticated. Visual inspection of cleaning compliance is no longer good enough. Housekeeping departments are facing added pressures to perform!
The lack of formal training coupled with high turnover rates, puts the housekeeping department at a disadvange from day one. In order to better control HAI’s, we need to train and certify housekeepers on key cleaning processes like patient room cleaning and restroom cleaning. Think of it as an insurance policy where the premium goes down with each added training opportunity. Except in this instance, the premium is actually a reduction in HAI’s.
Our Patient Room Cleaning 101 program focuses on the proper disinfection of “High-Touch” areas in healthcare and mirrors the recommendations set-forth by the CDC. To download a full list of the High-Touch areas that require special attention, click here.
As part of Patient Room Cleaning 101, participants are assessed on their mastery of occupied and discharge room cleaning. Participants are actually observed following the proper cleaning procedures and timed to ensure that they are efficient and effective. When they return back to you, you can send them into battle with a high level of confidence that they will return victorious in the battle against C.Diff, VRE, MRSA, and other HAI’s.
Category: Cleaning for Health Tags: custodial trainining, healthy building, high efficiency, Productivity, www.fightcdiff.com; infection prevention | Comments Off
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October 24, 2012 by Pike Systems
Pike Systems works with healthcare facilities to systematically reduce and control HAI’s through uniform cleaning procedures, a well-trained professional staff, and a documented routine housekeeping training curriculum.
A solid infection control plan is the ammunition you need to drive patients to your hospital and away from a competitor’s. Pike Systems specializes in the integration and implementation of a total Infection Control Program that integrates products, tools, and training into a cohesive program. Many healthcare facilities purchase cleaning supplies and equipment through their GPO and receive little after sale support from vendors. As a result, training typically falls on the environmental services department whose resources are already strained leaving new hires and existing staff with little or no formal training.
Environmental Services is the last line of defense on the road to infection prevention. In order for the housekeeping department to effectively do their part in controlling the spread of HAI’s, each housekeeper must be trained on cleaning procedures and the processes must be followed. Adaptations to procedures by housekeepers open the hospital and the department up to scrutiny and jeopardize patient health.
An educational intervention is key in transforming the Environmental Services Department into cleaning professionals tasked with controlling the spread of infection. An educational intervention builds their knowledge base from the ground up beginning with their role in infection prevention,
Housekeepers need to be prepared to go into combat each day. Some days they’re fighting MRSA, some days it’s C.Diff. Either way, they need the knowledge, tools, and support to be successful. You would never see a school district with no grading rubric or a transportation department without planned routes or schedules or a teaching staff that was never trained or certified. Why then, would we send a housekeeper who hasn’t been trained, into a patient room to perform the most important processes in the hospital: patient room disinfection.
Category: Cleaning Budget, Cleaning for Health Comments Off
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August 13, 2012 by Pike Systems
It is no longer good enough to visually inspect areas for cleanliness. The most harmful bugs are invisible to the naked eye. Given this, there are more an more options available for inspection in the cleaning industry. ATP meters are great tools but can be cost prohibitive to small organizations. Ultraviolet Markers are one of the cheapest ways to verify and reinforce the cleaning performed; but do they really work?
Dating back to November of 2008, a study was published documenting the effectiveness of Ultraviolet Markers in the healthcare setting. The study followed 36 acute care hospitals raning in size from 25 to 721 beds and involved three phases: pre-intervention analysis, programmatic analysis and educational interventions, and performance feedback and programmatic analysis. At the beginning of the study, 48% of surfaces were being cleaned. By the end, 77% of surfaces were cleaned.
The study monitored the cleaning of 14 surfaces including the sink, tray table, toliet seat, flush handle, side rail, bedside table, call box, chair, telephone, bathroom door knobs, bathroom handhold, bathroom light switch, room door knobs, and bedpan cleaner.
Throughout the implementation period, the hospitals used basic interventions to optimize disinfection cleaning policies, procedures and EVS staff education and practice.
Ultraviolet Markers were simply one tool used on the path to better cleaning procedures, increase accountability, and a more educated staff. Could this have been done without Ultraviolet Markers? Yes – however, the Ultraviolet Markers were the catalyst that set the hospitals on their journey towards improved infection control.
If you’d like information on Ultraviolet Markers retailing at approximately $36.50/kit, also available through Pike Systems, click here: http://www.triple-s.com/pis/CleanSpecMonitoringSystem.pdf .
For more information on the CDC’s Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health Care, click here: http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/guidelines/eic_in_HCF_03.pdf
CDC’s Options for Evaluating Environmental Cleaning Article: http://www.cdc.gov/hai/toolkits/evaluating-environmental-cleaning.html
Category: Cleaning for Health Tags: Cleaning Inspections, Disinfection, Evaluating Cleaning, Quality Control, Ultraviolet Markers | Comments Off
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August 9, 2012 by Pike Systems
Pike Systems introduces Sanotracin RTU, a highly effective EPA-registered sporicide, bactericide, virucide, tuberculocide, and fungicide offering a 3 minute C-Diff kill claim and six log disinfection – 99.9999%.
The patented, hyperactive chemistry provides fast results. With its shorter kill times and powerful wetting agents, Sanotracin RTU stays wet longer and works faster. The result, assured efficacy against hard-to-kill C. difficle spores and other dangerous pathogens every time you clean and disinfect.
Sanotracin RTU provides maximum effectiveness without the risks of bleach, which include damage to carpet, clothing, upholstery, LCD screens, medical equipemnt, and other surfaces; handling and mixing of bleach by the housekeeping staff; and respiratory issues for patients and staff. In addition, one-step, one-application Sanotracin RTU saves time and labor cost compared to bleach which requires a pre-cleaning and a rinse.
For more information, follow the links below:
Efficacy Data: http://www.biomedprotect.com/index.php/component/phocadownload/category/1-sanotracin-rtu?download=2:efficacy-rates
Application Protocol: http://www.biomedprotect.com/index.php/component/phocadownload/category/1-sanotracin-rtu?download=5:application-protocol
Environmental Services Management of C-Diff: http://www.biomedprotect.com/index.php/component/phocadownload/category/1-sanotracin-rtu?download=4:environmental-services-management-of-c-difficile
Category: Cleaning for Health, Home Page Tags: budget, C-Diff, c-difficile, Cleaning, disinfecting, germ control, sanitizing, sanotracin | Comments Off
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August 2, 2012 by Pike Systems
Pike Systems introduces Sanotracin, a sporicidal disinfectant cleaner, that has the fastest C-Diff Kill claim in the industry. Sanotracin effectively disinfects surfaces and kills C-Diff 2 minutes faster than Bleach based products. More information to follow.
Press Release: http://www.triple-s.com/Sanotracin_Press_Release_V4-2.pdf
Literature Sheet: http://www.triple-s.com/pis/SSSSanotracinLiterature_May31_LR.pdf
Efficacy Data: http://www.triple-s.com/pis/SSSSanotracin_Efficacy.pdf
Category: Cleaning for Health, Home Page Tags: 3 minute kill claim, C-Diff, Disinfectant, Hospital Cleaning | Comments Off
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July 24, 2012 by Pike Systems
Next month, ProTeam will be unveiling their latest and greatest backpack vacuums. With the R&D expertise that Emerson brings, ProTeam was able to update and redesign their successful line-up of backpack vacuums. The new models boast greater suction, lighter weight, and a newly designed harness.
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Category: Carpet and Hard Floor Maintenance, Cleaning for Health Tags: newly designed, ProTeam, vacuum | Comments Off
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May 1, 2012 by Pike Systems
It was recently brought to my attention that ISSA is working on a cleaning standard for K-12 schools. I’m interested in feedback everyone. The description is listed below:
ISSA is currently working on developing a “standard” and non-prescriptive approach to maintaining K-12 educational facilities in a sanitary and healthful condition that is conducive to the students’ learning experience. The working title of this project is the “Clean Standard: K-12”.
The Clean Standard: K-12 will be premised on the three years of research conducted by ISSA and the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) in major school districts across the country. This research will result in a recommended, uniform, scientific based definition of “clean” from a public health perspective for K-12 schools that is based on ATP meter(s) and is also premised on tens of thousands of individual measurements taken in multiple school facilities across the nation. This definition of “clean” is expected to be the cornerstone of the Clean Standard: K-12.
Category: Cleaning for Health Tags: Cleaning Standard, ISSA, K-12 | Comments (1)
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April 25, 2012 by Pike Systems
The State of Missouri, one of the first states to pass a Green Cleaning School Act, is now working to make changes to the bill. The bill originally recommended that K-12 schools adopt green cleaning products and equipment. Now, the state is working to make these recommendations mandatory. Is this a possibility for Illinois as well? Pike Systems welcomes any thoughts on this.
Category: Cleaning for Health Tags: Green, Green Cleaning Schools Act | Comments Off
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