From the June 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

“Of course, arming the technician with a bottle of an intermediate-level disinfectant should reduce microorganisms to a safer level,” he said.
The CDC Guidelines for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities states that reasons exist for using a detergent alone on floors because noncritical surfaces contribute minimally to endemic health care-associated infections, and no differences have been found in HAI rates when floors are cleaned with detergent rather than disinfectant. Changes to health care floor care guidelines will likely be coming considering this referenced study whereby of the 100 occupied rooms which were studied, 41 percent had one or more high-touch objects that came into contact with the floor. Cultures were collected from the floors and from hands that had touched items which had come into contact with the floor. Contamination identifying Clostridium difficile was recovered from floors in 48 percent of the surveyed rooms. MRSA and VRE were also present in patient room floor samples, but at a significantly lower rate.

Samples were taken from hands to determine the frequency of transference of pathogens from the floor to hands in the patient room after touching an item that was on the floor. Of the 31 bare hand or glove cultures, MRSA was recovered from 18 percent, VRE from 6 percent and C diff 3 percent.
The best defense for the patient is making sure everyone in the room is washing their hands after touching items including the patient and visitors. Hand hygiene is recognized by IPs as the most important intervention in decreasing the spread of infection. Hands are vectors for transmission between both people and objects. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health care workers should practice proper hand hygiene before touching the patient, after touching the patient and after touching inanimate objects in the patient’s surroundings. The principles of the safety protocol should be taught to the patient as well as others entering the room. The additional data presented concerning contamination transference from touching items that were picked up from the floor means a review of education practices is necessary immediately.

Since new research and testing data are putting questions in the minds of infection preventionists and EVS managers new products and education programs will likely be developed or promoted. The cost of health care associated infections (HAIs) to both the patient and the hospital are driving the intense focus on the patient environment, and with the new research comes better practices to improve patient safety and healthier outcomes.

About the author: Thom Wellington is the CEO of Infection Control University.

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